


Distilled Dreams | Volturi Kings

by MightyWallJericho



Series: Metonia Series (Broken Memories, Distilled Dreams) [2]
Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:33:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 37,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28140951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MightyWallJericho/pseuds/MightyWallJericho
Summary: Ties have been made and broken in Volterra, Italy, and now things have come to a screeching halt. A potential battle plaguing the minds of every vampire attending the trial in Forks could only bring tension, right?Two sides of a story.Things have changed in the world of vampires and the Volturi, but one question remains:What more does history have to tell?
Relationships: Aro (Twilight)/Caius (Twilight)/Marcus (Twilight)/Original Character(s), Aro (Twilight)/Caius (Twilight)/Marcus (Twilight)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Metonia Series (Broken Memories, Distilled Dreams) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2058948
Comments: 1
Kudos: 37





	1. Enjoy the Show

While the end of the trial was nearing, the beginning of a new era was upon us. With my little boy in my arms, I had no reasons to carry on with lecturing my former friends on how to act during a trial. Doing so would do more harm than good on my reputation and on the ears of the two young hybrids in our midst.

“Is that?” Edward questions, looking at the prince in my arms, “A  _ hybrid _ ?”

Many people in the crowd let out a gasp as they got to see the newest addition to the royal family. Quite a few of the vampires took a few steps forward, wanting to get a better look at Helios as he smiled awkwardly at everyone while being carried back to his fathers.

“Hey my boy,” Caius greeted as I allowed him to take him from my hold, propping him up on his leg before getting him better situated. “You were so good, Heelie,” my mate praises.

“Thank you daddy,” my blonde mate kisses Helios’ head before turning back to the very confused Edward and Bella. In fact, everyone but our own coven was shocked at the discovery. Finding out that the reason behind a governmental lockdown was a young child was not something that happened once a century.

“That isn’t possible,” Alice says, “I should have been able to see!”

“Well, it seems that we have been able to prove your gift quite  _ unreliable _ , Alice, as well as Edward’s. I think that I have found a nice way around those invasive powers of yours once and for all,” I give them a sadistic smile as I take my stand in front of them. “Helios Volturi is your prince, my and my mate’s son, you will do well to show him all of the respect that someone in his position commands.”

“How did you survive having a hybrid child? Who is the  _ father _ ?” Edward pesters us.

“Our son is our soul child, not biological. I have never been pregnant and I never will become pregnant. We found his mother when dealing with the infestation of Immortal children. As she gave birth she asked me and my mate Marcus, who had come to investigate the disturbance with me, to give him love and to take him in as my own,” I explain to the vampires around us, “We have kept this news from you only so that we could get a grip on what exactly we were dealing with. Keeping a secret like this forever was never our intention.”

“Taking him from his father-” Bella starts.

“My brothers and I are his fathers, not some filthy Romanian that  _ raped _ a human woman,” Marcus seethes, “Anna and I watched him being born and we are the parents. Whoever his father was does not matter because I would have torn him apart for what he did to Lana.”

Alice turns to me and gives me a half-hearted smile, “The child isn't even yours, Annalise, he needs to be with someone who knows how to give him the love he needs. You're a cruel queen with a lot of issues. You'll ruin him. His mother wouldn't have wanted this for him, this pressure of being a prince. She didn't know that you were a queen or that you were even a monster as she lay dying.”

“Bold of you to assume that we did not tell her that we were a king and a queen and that she was not smart enough to recognize one of the members of the species that kidnapped and impregnated her,” Marcus argues. “Lana knew what was to become of her child. All that she wanted was that we kept him happy and safe. As we have done just that, we made her dying wish a reality.”

“Still, Annalise is not fit to be a  _ mother _ ,” Alice fights back against the notion. “Look at her, she’s a killer and she gets off on the fact that people suffer. A monster-”

It was my little boy that spoke up this time, “You don’t know  _ crap _ about my mother,  _ bitch. _ Sorry grandpa, but it had to be said.”

“Forgiven,” Carlisle comes up to the scene, looking at his former daughter, “My grandson is right in every way. My daughter is a kind person who loves her son more than anything. You should be ashamed of yourself for suggesting that someone else take her child away from her.”

“As a matter of fact, I should  _ kill you _ for implying that you are going to take my baby boy away and make him your own. Get your own hybrid child from somewhere else and leave Helios alone,” I take my son out of Caius’ arms and kiss his cheek, easing his anxiety about the situation at hand.

Bella gives Renesmee over to Edward and marches up to my son and I, pointing a finger at my face as if she were the child on the field, “You're a monster. You've become a monster! You act like this is okay! Like threatening to kill us is okay! It's not. Anna, you're a monster who doesn't deserve the right to the title of queen or mother. Your  _ son  _ should be with people who know how to raise a hybrid, not with monsters like the Volturi who are likely doing experiments on him in Italy.”

She takes one more step, getting far too close for me to be comfortable. I let out a loud growl. “If you come any closer or even  _ think _ of attacking me or anyone that I love I will  _ murder you _ in front of everyone here.”

“You would kill me in front of your own child?” She questions judgmentally.

“I’d be the one to do it if mommy let me down,” Helios hisses at her. “Mess with my family and my coven and I will  _ end you _ , you whiny little brat.”

Where Helios had learned to speak so  _ venomously _ was quite obvious, afterall he had been near Afton the last few hours and for the entirety of his life.  _ I’ll have to figure out what the hell they are playing and what kind of language that boy is using in front of his brother. Ah, hell, he could have learnt it from watching Jane talk to the guards during training. Girl doesn’t know how to not cuss out her family. _

“Allowing a child to speak this way?” Edward lets out a disgusted noise, “Do you not care about the use of profane language in your  _ castle _ ?”

Many of the guards let out noises of protest at the small jab. While not directed all at them, it seemed like Edward was insinuating that they were all  _ uncultured _ , which was not what they wanted the world to think. To everyone else we seem stuck up at times, cultured to the brink of insanity.

“Helios is a good child who knows when and where to use profanity,” I defend my son. “I think that it is perfectly fine for him to swear at you. In fact, he should be praised for having such bravery in upholding the image of his mother. All mothers everywhere should wish for a child who has the gut to call it like it is.”

“Our son has done nothing wrong,” Caius adds, “He will be rewarded for such fine behavior when we get home.”

“Giving out rewards when a child threatens to kill someone. You have all gone mad,” Edward says. “That child has to be taken from you all-”

Every single one of the vampires that had come to gather on our invitation growl at the telepath, some even coming forward, almost close enough to attack him from afar. Alexandros uses his speed to come to our side, glaring daggers into the leader of the Olympic Coven.

“If they don’t kill you,” the immortal laughs darkly, “ _ I will _ .”

“I would like to ask one question,” Aro buds in, looking at the telepath in front of him, “The people you have brought with you, what are they for again? With any army of this size one would assume that your coven has waged  _ war _ with my own.”

“Witnesses,” Alice says confidently, “To the fact that Nessie isn’t an immortal child.”

“Well yes that should be obvious,” Aro chuckles, “But with the fact that you know how my gift works I would hate to say it but you just look like you want to fight with us. Such vitriolic words from your covenmate is enough evidence on our part. Why not just wait until we all got here? This would have gone a lot smoother if you had just brought one or two people. I can see multiple covens, nomads, and other hybrids in the distance.”

“You come here with an army of your own and you expect us to not bring one as well? Do we need some legal permission to gather forces now? I thought you were all about freedom! You've never wanted the freedom of humans or vampires, you want to stay in control. That sadistic smile when you look at my daughter says everything,” Edward exclaims.

“Your daughter doesn’t compare to my son in my eyes,” Bella shouts in protest, “Pretty, but not as beautiful as my mate or as darling as my Helios. It’s nothing personal Isabella.”

“She’s the most beautiful thing in the world!” Jane lets out a maniacal giggle at this, looking over to me, her laughter unable to be held in anymore. “What’s so funny? It’s the truth, you evil little girl! You should be considered an immortal child by how young you look!”

“I think you should be considered an immortal child by how young you  _ act _ ,” Helios snarks, causing me to let out a laugh of my own, kissing my baby boy’s cheek as a reward for such an impressive insult.

“Afton is rubbing off on him,” Marcus mutters.

“And Jane,” Caius adds.

“None of you have the right to do things like this!” Bella snaps, “Hypocrites! You want my daughter dead-”

“First of all, I never said I wanted your daughter dead. I said that I wanted  _ you _ dead. You are not Renesmee. She would be better off being with her imprint anyways, you’re exactly like your mother with the way that you act right now. A shitty mom, I have to say. Did she never give you any rules? That may be why you don’t like the Volturi anyways. Poor baby Bella doesn’t like rules,” I taunt her. Helios sticks his tongue out at her before rolling his eyes.

“If the hybrids follow the law we have no problem with them. I would like to speak to Huilen, I do believe that she raised a venomous hybrid like our own. It seems that the males of his species have a tendency to take after their immortal side in that respect,” Aro says.

“Your laws are  _ tyrannical _ .”

There it was. There was what we needed him to say. Going out against our laws was something that the other vampires would never forgive him for. They knew that the law was what kept them safe while they lived their immortal lives. Without it we would all be screwed.

“Our laws keep us  _ safe _ ,” Caius counters, “They keep us  _ protected _ from  _ humans. _ We may be at the top of the food chain but that could change. You were never alive to see the days when humans hunted us for sport. You never saw the days when most of us had to starve for months just to stay  _ alive _ . I saw the best of people’s eyes turn  _ pink _ from their hunger! People  _ died _ to make sure that the rest of us could  _ live _ !”

My blonde mate had snapped. During the times of vampire hunters, many of his older friends had been  _ butchered _ before being burned.

Even the Original Vampire was not at fault, rumored to have died during that time period as well. Whoever they were, they had been  _ murdered  _ by humanity just because of what they were. I don’t care that they ate people, they also had a  _ home _ and likely a  _ coven. _

The first coven.

“Never hunted, never looking around the corner, always knowing when you would find your next meal. Edward Masen, you are an affront to compassion and general morality,” Caius rules. “After this, you will never be allowed in Volterra again. I never want to see you in Italy. If you hear that I am coming to a place where you are, you will leave. If I ever find you again I swear to whatever higher force is out there that I will kill you. If you see my face after today, I will be the last face you ever see.”


	2. Crimes

Things were going down once Caius had truly gotten angry and lost some of his well kept composure. My mate was not one to speak of the things that he has gone through, let alone in front of everyone. The entire vampire community there to hear his recollection of the times where immortals were hunted just like we used to hunt them, my mate lets out a loud sigh.

“You disgust me,” the blonde king gives Edward a saddened look, “I thought that maybe you could show some respect for the people who brought you  _ freedom _ , but it seems that you would rather have us killed and let the rest of the immortal community be hunted and eradicated.”

“Freedom is not what you gave us! You gave us a damn  _ curse _ , vampirism is a curse! This isn’t how things are supposed to be! We are supposed to be  _ free _ , living and  _ dying  _ just like the natural order of things requires,” Edward seethes at the much older immortal, who tutts and takes one more step, finding himself far closer to the enemy than I would like.

“Never quite the way that things are supposed to be. Defying the will and ways of your own leaders and what is best for your daughter is your undoing. The Volturi do give chances to fix behaviors after offenses such as the ones you have committed. One...two...when will you finally give us three? One could say it has already been three, that a strike to not only your laws and your queen is enough to execute you. While you're at it here giving your sordid monologues, do mention that we gave you mercy. Oh, or did you not remember the Seattle Newborn Army? The one that you insisted we not handle,” Caius brings up what had brought us so far apart in the first place.

“What would have you done? Bringing in people who just want to kill us and Bree-” Marcus cuts him off.

“Did we not let Bree go? Did my mate not advocate for  _ mercy _ ? Anna gave you mercy, one that I myself would have given if I were there. Showing such malice and disrespect for a woman who gave you a second chance is not only mindless but also shows the world that you do not have what it takes to be an immortal with a gift such as yours.”

“I am perfectly worthy of my gift!” He shouts at my mate.

“Telepathy requires control,” Aro explains, “It also requires a certain amount of respect for someone’s privacy. You can control your gift, you just choose not to learn how to. Edward, you get a high off of berating people and their thoughts and stealing someone’s very personal thoughts that they would rather not have someone hear.”

“Baseless accusations-”

“All gifts are controllable,” Alec pipes up, “Mine had to be shaped, molded into what it is today, but in the end it was able to be useful and does not infringe on the privacy of others. Quite like you, I used to knock people out. You and I both have mental gifts, those can be tamed and bonded to your own will. The way that you use your mental gift is not the way that it should be used.”

“What do you know about  _ infringement of privacy _ ? You take away their very senses!” Edward defends himself.

“It is simply a comparison, you simpleton.”

“Not a very good one!”

“Opinions on the matter can be discussed later, boy, we have a trial to complete and you are being quite  _ disruptive _ ,” Alec turns back to me, “Mom can we finish this? I’m hungry.”

“Rose, Jasper,” Edward turns to my soul sibling and close covenmate, “You can’t be with them. I won’t allow it! Turning back to this  _ diet _ , Jasper? You said that you hated the way hurting and killing humans made you feel! What have they done to you to make you think that it’s okay again? Come home, Jasper. You’re my brother! I love you and I want what is best for you, even if you don’t understand! The Volturi aren’t the good guys!”

“You want me back just because you think that I'm reverting back to evil army general in the Volturi. Edward, you have no idea just how bad you made me feel. I was breaking and all you did was push away my emotions and make yourself the hero in my story. Maybe that is the case for you. In your eyes you will always be the hero. For me, you are the man who betrayed me and my trust, the man who used my gift against me to keep me away from what made me happy. Being with Anna and becoming her soul brother brought me back from the brink of insanity, I won't let you lay one hand on her or speak cruelly about the way that she lives her life,” Jasper stood his ground against his former covenmate.

“Why can’t you see that we’re happier here?” Rose questions, “I’m happier than I’ve ever been with this family! None of us drink from humans!”

“Red eyes,” Edward hisses.

“Blood bags, Edward, we drink from blood bags! It makes us stronger and I’m not hungry all the time anymore. Jasper’s gift is better controlled and my mate is even stronger now that he’s on human blood. I get that you don’t want to drink it, but don’t shame other people just because they want to eat like a normal vampire,” Rose counters.

“The blood is making you all act differently,” Bella says, “You never acted this way with us!”

One of the many problems that I had with this girl was that she couldn’t accept the fact that some people didn’t want to drink from animals. Edward is the same way. Not everyone has such good control as any of them and it makes little to no sense nowadays since vampires have better alternatives.

_ Change now or be immortally so. _

Bella had not changed. She was a vampire and everything that made me hate her was set in stone for the rest of eternity. Reasoning was not something she was good at and now she would never be good at it. Constantly playing the victim when it was  _ her _ fault was something I had not realized she did until I gained my own immortality.

“Maybe we just act differently because now we don’t have to walk on eggshells around you and your fragile ego,” Jasper mutters.

“How dare you?”

“Let me guess, she’s this bad when she’s with her own kid. I can tell that you have no love. All of that  _ love _ is centered around Edward’s beauty and his own grace. God, you fill his ego up when you’re with him. I never said anything cause’ it wasn’t my place but now I see it. Obsession. The emotions that I couldn’t handle off of you two were laced in  _ obsession _ ,” Jasper realizes.

“I am not obsessed,” Bella denies. “I love Edward and he loves me-”

“Toxic. That love you feel is  _ toxic _ for everyone around you.”

“You have no right to bud your head into my relationships when you left your wife to be a guard for  _ maniacs. _ ”

Oh god, she had hit low now.

“I don’t give a  _ shit _ what you think about what happened between Alice and I. She ignored me for months to hang out with you. That might not be a lot for a human, but as someone who was going through  _ hell _ , she should have been there. All you did was complain and complain and complain about how I was ruining the mood. Guess what, you ruined  _ my _ mood and nobody seemed to care! Mom, Dad, Rose, and Emmett were the only ones who seemed to give a crap about how  _ I _ felt!”

“Someone like them should not be anywhere near a  _ child _ ,” Bella sneers at me. Helios let out a feral snarl as he clung onto me. “You are raising a  _ wild beast _ !”

“Vampires snarl as a form of  _ communication _ , Isabella,” Aro deadpans. “We make many  _ inhuman _ noises in order to express our feelings without words. Of course, you wouldn’t know that until you make soul sibling and mate connections. Even one soul parent would have brought that out in you.”

“Our son is expressing his  _ distaste  _ for  _ you  _ and your  _ vibe _ ,” Caius informs.

“Die,” Helios says dramatically, “Just go find a child of the moon to bother or something.”

Caius lets out a scared whimper at the idea of a child of the moon being anywhere near him at any time.  _ Poor angry baby and the wolves. They sound like terrifying creatures.  _ **_They are. Scary as hell. Don’t mess with them unless you are planning on a fight._ **

“You’re all evil,” Edward accuses, “You’re evil and you just want us dead. There isn’t any good in you anymore, Annalise, you’re pure evil.”

“Who are you to call my mate and my coven  _ evil _ ?” Marcus questions.

“You’re wrong about everything. I can’t control my gift. You are in the wrong and I am right.”

“Right and wrong. Day and night. Humans or animals. Quite the fickle. The wrong answer got something right, day and night mix during the sunset, and humans are in fact animals. Things are not just black and white, we see in thoughts and memories of what made us do the things we did. It is what makes us different. Our gifts, our way of eating, our control, and our temperament all stem from a diversity in our own experience of the outside world. This was no execution, this was a trial. Armies may be at the ready, but that is to protect ourselves from the misguided vampires you have sweet-talked your way into an alliance,” I try and give him some sort of life lesson.

“No, no, you’re not right on this one! Nothing about what you do is okay or right!” Edward continues to deny in front of everyone. Many of the members of the crowd started to growl at his words. He was attacking them as well. To attack our diet and our ways of living was to attack all human eating vampires.

Doing so would not be wise. Vampires are quite temperamental.

“Since this is going nowhere,” Alexandros starts up again, “How about I make the suggestion that we end the trial here and have some  _ fun _ .”

“Fun?” Some people on the opposing side question, still quite confused on what was going on.

“This is a trial as much as it is a social outing. As Carlisle owns the residence, we will be putting some of the  _ refreshments _ inside. The place is quite large. Us ancients do like to have fun once and awhile,” Aro jokes.

“That is our-”

“It is not your house and you will be kicked out immediately. No, you can’t get your stuff right now, Edward, wait until after the party. Renesmee can go, but you, Alice, and Isabella are banned from all Volturi events until further notice,” Carlisle says with confidence. He didn’t want to see Edward ever again.

“Do you just not care about your own  _ granddaughter _ ?”

“She isn’t my granddaughter. I have no granddaughter, I have a grandson who I love very much.”

“Your love is conditional then,” Edward accuses, “You only love people who agree with you.”

“My love has one condition. I give up my love once I see that someone has become too full of themselves to listen to the plain and simple truth. Giving patience and time to a person who does not give the same is not worth it. Even vampires can give that to one another. A second chance was given to you when you left me all those years ago to live alone and on a human diet, another will not be given this time. Pushing the blame on others is a form of lie and attack. To see them together is rare, but for you it has become quite the common occurrence. I ask you to do one last thing. Let me go.”

“No, you can’t mean that-”

“He means that,” Caius hisses, “Now you are free to go. All other people here today besides you, your covenmate, and your wife may come to our party. The hybrids are welcome and are encouraged to try to hang out with my son. It would be good for him to meet some people like him.”

“Yes, just make sure to let him have the last cookie, he’ll throw a fit otherwise.”

“Also, Jane, do take Stefan to another place where Marcus and I can deal with him. He is a convicted criminal and should not be allowed to live. If not for his crimes against children, then for the murder of my little sister.”


	3. Hybrids Obsessed With Cookies

Hearing Edward and Bella let out cries of protest as Stefan was dragged by his collar to my mates was one of the only noises from them that gave me a rush of happiness. Knowing that one of the most evil vampires of all time was about to die was good enough for me, but the two lovers in front of me had brought him here to side with them, to work with them and to try and kill my coven. Stefan’s growls were music to my ear. No matter what he said or did, we would always find him. This time, we would kill him.

Someone like him didn’t have the right to live on the same plane of existence as me.

“Ah, how I have waited so long to do this,” Aro mused, “Getting rid of you will be one of my greatest achievements to date.”

“Filthy Italian scum!” Stefan growls at my raven-haired mate.  
“Now, now, Stefan, I know that you know that I’m not Italian. Come on, you know this. We’ve hated each other for over two thousand years, man, I would at least like to think that you’d have learnt where I am from,” Aro says, clearly offended at the notion.

“Live in Italy for so long and one would  _ assume _ you become  _ Italian _ , filthy bastard,” he sneers.

“You assumed wrong,” Aro says cheerfully as he rips off one of his arms, giving a crazed smile. “Next time assume right. Marcus! Let’s have some fun with him before he goes.”

“Obviously,” Marcus rolls his eyes, “I would be offended if you killed him quickly.”

____________________________________________

I had decided that taking my son away from this execution would be best. Having a six month old witness the execution of the man who likely ordered for his mother’s pregnancy was bad enough, but Stefan had also killed his aunt.

“Mamma, when do we get food?” My son asks, biting at my cloak. “M’ hungry.”

“I bet you are, baby, but we have to wait for daddies to get back to the house. Once they get back you can have all the blood and cookies you want,” I promise.

Quite a few vampires had already been let in the house. The ones that my family did know were chatting it up in the family room. Inside of the living room I sat with my son, trying to keep him comfortable. Just like me, he had a tendency to get into things when he’s hungry. Or worse, he throws a fit because of how overtired and hungry he gets.

Those don’t end well for anyone.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the little surprise,” Alexandros snarks, “Never did I ever think I would see the day when something like you came into our mix.”

“Play nice with my son, Alexandros,” I warn, “He’s worse than Afton and Jane combined. Little Heelie will eat you alive if you talk bad about anyone.”

“You wound me, my queen, what kind of impression did I give you to make you think I would do such a thing? I would never speak ill of  _ anyone _ in front of the prince of the vampires. It would be disrespectful.”

“That it would be,” I stand up with my son in my arms, “Have my mates come back yet? Or have they decided that hour long torture is more of their style at the moment.”

“Aro and Marcus should be back soon, Βασίλισσα μου. Stefan deserves as long of a death as possible for what he did to Didyme. What he did to her will always be one of the worst things done in all vampire history. She was kind and did not deserve such a fate,” his voice lowers at his last sentence as he remembers her. From what my mates had already said, she was one of the kindest vampires to ever exist. With a gift like happiness induction one would assume without any people to back up the claim.

“Of course,” I say, giving a small smile to Alexandros before I took myself and my son out of the room, finding myself looking for some of my family to talk to.

Almost all of the guards could be seen talking with their friends and covenmates, laughing away as they sipped on their glasses of blood. Some of the newborns in the crowd were taking advantage of the endless supply of blood, drinking away their thirst while we all waited for my mates to make their entrance.

I had almost forgotten how much I missed being in this house. Having a modern feel, I spent so much time here while living in Forks. While no memories were as concrete as I would have liked them to be, I could still feel the warmth and happiness that radiated off of them. All of the times that I went here were when I was human, unhappy and human. Never once did I find myself in Jasper’s arms while happy unless he was the one who hugged me.

“Mamma,” knocked out of my own daydreaming, I turn my head to the little hybrid in my arms, “Can you get me a cookie?”

“Which cookie do you want?” Using my speed, I made my way over to the table of human food, that of which mostly consisted of cookies and other pastries that the hybrids could eat if they wanted to.

“Lemon,” My baby answers softly, pointing to one of the lemon cookies that Rose and Jasper had made together. The two of them did quite a few things together now, doing patrols and baking just two of them.  _ I bet that aunty and uncle will be happy that you want their cookies, they make them with love and just for you, ο μικρός μου πρίγκιπας.  _

Handing one of the freshly made cookies to Helios, I saw one of the hybrids take notice of our presence in the room.

Nahuel had been the only male hybrid known before Helios and was the only male in his biological sibling family. Though I don’t know if he would consider them family, I know that he does care about two of his sisters quite a lot. Having someone else like him would be good for my son and him. They could be good friends if he gave my son the chance.

The tall matured hybrid male came right over to us, looking at the cookies on the table. “Does he eat more human food than blood?”

“No, but he loves cookies. Most of the time he hates human food but he has a soft spot for anything lemon,” I explain to him. “It’s good to finally meet you. It was quite hard to see you past all of the people. They hid you quite well.”

“My aunt did not want me to come and see you unless she knew that I would be safe,” I nodded my head. I understood where she was coming from. He wasn’t as strong as a normal vampire and could have been hurt by us if we attacked. “Though she is less strict now that she knows that you will not be attacking us anytime soon.”

“Huilen was right in keeping you away from us, you know that? None of my coven will hurt you, but she still had to make sure first. She cares about you.”

“I know, but it does get annoying sometimes. I’m full grown and she still treats me like a child,” Nahuel admits, “She’s protective.”

“As any mother figure should be,” Nahuel laughs and nods, taking one of the chocolate chip cookies from the table. He smiles when he takes a bite. “My soul brother and my friend love to bake together for Helios. Good way to pass the time when you have a hungry hybrid on your hands.”

“These are some of the best human cookies I have had,” He admits, “I can see why your son loves them so much.”

“Uncle Jaz and Auntie Rose love to make the lemon ones because I eat them so quickly. I bet that the chocolate ones are good as well. I don’t eat those as much cause’ I always have the lemon ones,” Helios says, scooting over so he could grab another cookie. “Italy is one of the best places for lemon cookies. At least for me.”

“You are one funny little man,” Nahuel muses, “Are you venomous?”

“Yup,” Helios answers, “It’s why daddy got mad when I bit him. He said it hurt really bad. I don’t think the mark is ever going to go away. I don’t know why he’s so annoyed about it. I said sorry. What else does he expect me to do? Find a time machine?”

“I’m venomous as well. My sisters and Renesmee are not. It makes us quite different from the girls,” Helios giggles. “I should get back to my aunt, but I will visit you all sometimes. I would like to see other places that are not around my home at some point in my immortality.”

“We hope to see you later, Nahuel, you will always be welcome in Volterra,” we said our last goodbyes before the hybrid male left the room to go and find his aunt, who was likely looking for him.  _ It is good that Nahuel had someone to raise him. _

I heard the front door open, forcing my head to look to what or who was coming inside. Taking a breath, I smelled my mates at the front of the house. Smiling, I let our son take a few more cookies. He stuffed them in his mouth, loving the taste of the sugary pastry in his little mouth.  _ I’m glad that you can’t get sick because of all these sweets, little man, or we would have a big problem on our hands. _

Aro had a smirk on his face as he walked through the door, relishing in his victory. Marcus had a similar expression, one much more sadistic than his soul brother. Both of them immediately spotted Helios and I and rushed over to the two of us.

Kissing my head, Aro smiled and wrapped his arms around me. “I see that Helios and you have found the cookies that Jasper and Rose made.”

“She will be pleased that you like them, my boy,” Marcus ruffles his son’s raven hair and laughs, “The two of them will be making many more batches in the future. It seems that your species has a likeness for sweets.”

“Well duh,” our son replies, “Why would we  _ not _ like the sweets?”

“You make a fine argument, son,” Aro chuckles, “A fine argument indeed. How are you enjoying things, ο μικρός μου πρίγκιπας?”

“Good, daddy. What are we going to do after the party? Are we gonna go home?” the boy asks. “I’m still hungry.”

“I think it is time to take a break from the cookies and move on to a more satisfying meal. I shall get you some blood, little one,” Marcus runs off somewhere, presumably to get our son his dinner for the day. Hybrids needed more food as they had much faster motor systems and burned calories like mad. Blood was better, but if they ate enough human food they would survive. Whether or not hybrids starved faster was not known and I hoped that we would never need to know.

“For what is worth, we have no clue what we are going to do after the party. We can go home or we can stay here for a few days. I do not know if this place has enough blood for more than a few nights, but we can manage until further notice,” Aro says. “It is your six month party, afterall.”

“I don’t want you to be hungry, daddy,” Helios says quietly. “We can leave and go back home. I wanna see the gardens some more. The ponds are pretty.”

“I am glad you enjoy the ponds in the gardens, my son.”

“The fact that Afton and Jane sometimes push me in isn’t fun though.”

“They do what?!”


	4. Drunk Leaders Have No Filter

After my son and daughter had been thoroughly reprimanded for their behavior, Aro and I had found ourselves speaking with the French coven and the Long Island coven. According to my mate, the French and the Long Island covens had been created around the same time during the French and American revolutions and were fans of the Volturi even if they hated the English and French monarchies.

Most of the monarchies that we learned about in school were morally corrupt and had no sense for people who were at the bottom of the social structure. For vampires that rarely ever happened due to the fact that covens were family and family did not have as many strict roles. Yes, I was the head woman of the house, but that didn’t mean that everyone had to bow at my feet like they had to with the Romanians.

With two of the most influential covens at our side, Aro let out a sigh as Alexandros walked closer to us.  _ Don’t get pissy with your friends, Aro, or they won’t want to be friends with you anymore. _

“Aro, what a mighty fine show you put on back there,” the tall man praises, “I never thought I would see the day that the Volturi fool us like that. I mean, you should have seen us beforehand. We were making bets.”

“Why must you do this, Alexandros?” Aro questions his friend, putting his head in his hands. “You’re the most embarrassing vampire in the world.”

“Good lord, Aro, you didn't expect me to let you pull that kind of thing on me without letting me pester you about it afterwards? Are you as thick as you were three millennia ago or has your immortal inability to change been fixed?” Alexandros teases.

“Like I said, embarrassing,” my mate repeats.

“No, I think the most embarrassing vampire in all of existence has to be Edward Masen. You should have seen his face once you left. He was fuming. I thought he was going to attack you at one point. I think that the rest of the vampire world hates them. Maybe even some of the other animal eaters hate him.”

“Let’s hope that I never have to see him again. I think that if I did he would end up dead,” Aro admits. “His head would be in the fire.”

“Your soul brother holds more hatred than you, but you are evenly matched.”

“Much less forgiving. The telepath knows what will happen once he steps one foot into Italy. We will have our people at the borders now. Alice, Bella, and Edward are banned for all time unless they are tried. They are banned from being witnesses to any trials. For all that I care they can be hunted and killed by any of you.”

His long time friend simply nodded, taking another glass of blood and sipping it. “Are we to have any alcohol here or am I going to have to find it myself?”

“It’s coming out now. Be patient,” Aro mumbles. I chuckle and kiss his cheek, going off to find out where Jasper and Rose had gone. The two of them were bound for some trouble together.

By the time I had found my soul brother he had already gotten himself into trouble, running away from an angry Alec and a  _ pissed _ Jane. Why the young blonde girl hadn’t started to hurt him with her gift yet was beyond me, but I was glad that she decided to just chase him instead of causing him pain. He was technically an uncle to her, but they acted more as siblings than anything else. Our familial relationships were weird and I would rather not get into detail.

Walking by the outdoor fountain, I see Caius and Helios playing around, laughing up a storm by a few of the redwoods in the backyard.  _ My two sarcastic little men. _

Once the alcohol came around, I reluctantly took a glass. What alcohol did to me was unknown still and I didn’t want to make too bad of an impression while under the influence. The first sip didn’t taste  _ awful _ , but it definitely was not my favorite thing. What was being served, I had no idea. All I knew was that no drugs were in the vicinity and even if they tried, vampires could not get high.

Although we could get drunk. That made no sense whatsoever.

The taste reminded me of soap, but the after effect felt kind of good. By the time I had finished the drink I realized that I had grabbed something way too strong for my nonexistent experience with alcohol.

My mind raced as I went inside to find one of my mates. Caius and Helios had already gone inside.

The inside of the house was much different now, some of the party lights drawing me in. Marcus stood on one end of the bar, taking a sip of his own drink.  _ Fuck, it’s your first time drinking to? Yeah. Yeah. Damn I can’t stand very well. I should go to you. You’re hot, Marcus. How do you get so hot? Can you slam me against the wall again? Please? _

“Hey baby,” I stumble over to Marcus, grinning like an idiot, “You look pretty today.”  
“Drinks have been out for maybe ten minutes and you have already gotten yourself drunk?” I nod my head, looking up into his red eyes. _Your eyes are so pretty. Pretty pretty Marcus._

“Am I,” I giggle, “Not allowed to call you pretty anymore?”

“Tesoro-”

“No I understand. You can’t be called pretty by your queen. No pretty Marcus’ today, just non pretty Marcus’,” I sign in sadness. “What are you? If you aren’t pretty Marcus are you hot Marcus? I think you’re hot.”

“Anna, darling,” Marcus laughs and puts a hand on my shoulder, “I can be whatever you want me to be.”

“Baby you can’t be whatever I want. What if I want you to become a bag of blood? You don’t have blood. Useless,” I mutter.

“I think that you need to be away from the drinks-” Marcus says as I attempt to grab another glass of blood alcohol. “Don’t get too drunk on your first time.”

“Why do you do this to me, Marcus? First you can’t be pretty and now you won’t let me drink? Don’t be an old hag like someone’s nana,” Marcus lets out an offended gasp, “It’s the truth, Markie, you just have to accept it. You’re my pretty Markie and I love my pretty Markie.”

“Pretty Markie?” Caius stumbles over his own feet as he meets us in front of the bar. “Is that you’re pretty Markie, baby?”

“Yeah, baby,” I kiss my blonde mate on the cheek before giggling at Marcus, “The best and prettiest Markie in all the land. He’s mine. He likes to say that I’m his. Last time he said that he slammed me against a wall-”

“Anna-!”

“He broke that wall. Remember, Caius?” My mate howls in drunken laughter, wrapping his arms around me. “Would you slam me into a wall, baby?”

“Baby I would if you wanted me to. I’ll break walls just as good as Markie mans,” I giggle again.

“Isn’t Markie mans the prettiest Markie mans. Pretty Markie mans. I always want my pretty Markie mans,” I repeat, kissing Caius’ cheek sloppily, causing the taller man to chuckle and tighten his grip. “You look so sad, baby, don’t be sad.”

“I assure you that I am not sad, tesoro,” Marcus says, kissing my head. Caius hisses at him and I groan. “Don’t hiss at me while drunkenly hogging our mate, Caius.”

“I do what I want. I am a king,” Caius puts his fist up in the air, his entire arm shaking as he tilts his head back. “Kings do what they want.”

“Insufferable,” Marcus mutters.

“ _ Brothers _ !” Aro cheers, holding a glass of his own.  _ Yay, more sexy mates! I want you all to myself. Wait, I want it-but I got it? Do I? All the people here can see them. My sexy babies are in the open being sexy babies. Fuck, can I have them to myself now? _

“ _ Babyyy _ ,” I draw out, “I want you.” Marcus chokes on the softer drink he was sipping. “Can we all go back and just be happy? I don’t want people to see you. Ever. I want you to myself all the time. We can just be all good and I can make you feel-”

“Darling, you’re drunk, no-” Marcus tried to stop me.

“But you’re all  _ hot _ and I’m  _ horny _ and I want you all on me right now,” Marcus’ face turned to one of fear as I spoke. “I want you…”

“Anna if you want sex you’re going to have to be sober,” I whine at him and Aro and Caius groan as well. “No, none of us are having sex at a party when you three are drunk. I get that none of you are in the right headspace but you can wait a bit. That gives you time to reevaluate what you want-”

“I know what I want,” Caius hisses, “If I want sex and Anna wants sex, who am I to deny her?”

“A decent mate,” Caius growls at his soul brother, almost pulling me further away from Marcus. “We can go take the room that Carlisle said we can stay in but you three are going to sober up before doing anything.”

“I hate you,” Aro mutters, kissing my cheek lovingly, “Stupid brother.”

Marcus just shook his head and Caius hissed at him, rolling his eyes and leading me to the bedroom. Of course, Marcus followed us, as to keep an eye on our behavior.  _ Aroooo. Ah, you’re right here. _

My black-haired mate kissed my head and helped me up the stairs.  _ I love you. Why are you so hot and sexy? Why does that happen? When did you get god tier. Were you always god tier gorgeous or did that happen when you turned. No, you couldn’t have been ugly before. No mate of mine could have been ugly. You’re pretty too. _

“Anna baby,” Aro whines at me, “You’re the prettiest.”

“We already e-established that Markie is the prettiest,” Caius giggles. “Pretty Markie mans. I think he’s a hoe right now.”

“Markie the hoe. Markie the big hoe,” Aro giggles.

“Where’s Heelie?” I ask, looking down the stairs.

“Our son is with Jasper,” Marcus says, bringing our drunk asses to one of the bigger rooms. The bed was the same size as the one we had at home, which was odd considering that the Cullens didn’t have anyone with multiple mates. The bed would easily fit the four of us and was adorned with silk sheets and fluffy pillows. “Darling, lay down and get sober.”

“Can I?” I question, “Will I be drunk forever? If I am then can we have sex?”

“Il mio amore, you will not be intoxicated for the rest of eternity. I promise.”

“I bet you would be a drag anyways,” Caius flops onto the bed. “You’re being too brotherly. Stop. You’re being annoying. I hate it. I hate it here right now. I want friends, not brothers.”

“You got two soul brothers so calm down, stop hissing, and let us cuddle with our mate in peace until you three sober up,” Marcus orders my blonde mate, who hisses again as I lay down next to him, rolling over to lay on his chest.

“I love you,” I whispered, happy to have my mates with me.

“I love you too, Anna baby,” Caius kisses my head and holds me close to him. Marcus glares at him. “What the fuck do you want, Marcus?”

“Stop hogging our mate,” Marcus orders him again. “Don’t get hissy with me or I will bite you. Hey! Move over you blonde brat!”

“Children,” Aro says, snuggling up next to Caius and I, “Let us be in peace.”

“Let me-”

“Peace.


	5. Bondtime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS:  
> Smut
> 
> ᴛʀᴀɴꜱʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ:
> 
> Sei così bella. You look so beautiful.
> 
> Ti voglio bene, mia bella compagna. I love you, my beautiful mate.
> 
> Ti senti così bene, mia dea. You feel so good, my goddess.
> 
> Ti amo tanto piccola. I love you so much baby.
> 
> Sei così brava per noi, tesoro. You're so good for us, darling.
> 
> È il tuo turno. It's your turn.
> 
> Mia bellissima regina. Il mio. My beautiful queen. Mine.
> 
> Tuo, Marcus, tuo adesso. Per favore, piccola, di più. Yours, Marcus, yours now. Please, baby, more.
> 
> Dammi tutto quello che hai. Give me everything you have.
> 
> Ti amo cara. L'amore della mia vita. Ti amo tanto. I love you, darling. The love of my life. I love you so much.
> 
> Sei tutto quello che voglio in questo mondo. Se ho te, sarò sempre felice. You're all that I want in this world. If I have you, I'll always be happy.

After about an hour of cuddling and whining at each other, we finally sobered up. Laying down on Marcus after he grabbed me and took me away from Caius, I moaned quietly into his chest, remembering everything that I had said and thought about my mates. Lord, I had embarrassed myself, thinking of them in the worst ways possible.

Not only that, but Aro saw and heard it all.

“Marcus,” I whine, rubbing my head on him, “Are we sober now?”

“Is this the new form of  _ are we there yet _ ?” I shake my head, rolling myself on him for a few seconds, attempting to get more comfortable in between all of them. Marcus let out a low growl and pushed me off of him in annoyance, not wanting to be frustrated with me any longer. I pout, snuggling up to Aro, who was more than happy to take his brother’s place as my personal pillow.

“Il mio amore,” Aro croons, kissing my mouth softly. I kiss back immediately, wrapping my arms around his neck. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but I felt breathless afterwards, not knowing where my confident drunk self had gone. “Ti amo, Anna.”

“Ti amo anch'io,” I whisper, pressing my lips back on his. Pulling me closer, my mate groans into our kiss as I shift slightly. Not pulling back, I allow Aro to slide his tongue in my mouth, moaning as our tongues touch and fight for dominance.

With just one flash I was under my mate, our lips together and our tongues intertwined. I found myself running my hands through his long hair, tugging at it every so often, causing my much taller mate to groan.

I don’t think I would have remembered that my other two mates were in the room if Marcus hadn’t cleared his throat. Moving my lips off of Aro’s, I look down at the sheets in embarrassment, feeling almost caught.

“ _ Anna _ ,” Caius whispers, moving over Aro and to my side. “ _ Don’t leave me out. _ ”

My breath hitches as he grabs my chin, forcing me to look into his black eyes. My blonde mate smirked before pulling me into a deep kiss. While Caius kissed me passionately, I could feel Aro’s hands running down my sides, mapping out every inch of my body. As soon as my mouth released a small moan, I had triggered the fire inside of my mates’ bodies, all three of them around me.

“Tesoro,” Marcus mumbled into my side, nipping at some of my exposed midriff. “Sei così bella.”

Not giving me any time to respond to him, Marcus slips off my skirts and moves his hands close to my core. A low moan escaped my lips as he touched me. Bucking my hips up in a plea for more friction, I continue to pepper kisses along my blonde king’s neck, causing him to groan.

“Mia cara,” Caius grumbles as I continue to show my affection, “Ti voglio bene, mia bella compagna.”

“I love you too, Caius,” I mumble into his neck as Marcus moves down lower, making me whimper in anticipation. A sharp moan escaped me as my mate’s tongue reached my folds. Aro and Caius both groaned at my response and stopped me from bucking my hips up. “Marcus,  _ please. _ ”

With no response, my mate circled my clitoris with his tongue. I bit down on my lip,  _ hard _ , in order to stop all of the sounds from coming out of my mouth. This caused Aro to growl and turn my face to his.

“Don’t you dare silence yourself,” his voice was almost an order, “We want to  _ hear _ you when we make you feel pleasure unlike anything you have felt before.”

Nodding, I try to stop biting my lip, letting through many of the sounds I had miserably kept at bay as Marcus’ tongue lapped at my core, bringing me closer to my release. Legs trembling, I tried to keep my legs open on my own accord, but the sharp pleasure in between my legs begged me to close them.

His muscle moving up and down my core, I feel myself become drowned in my own euphoria. Aro and Caius moving their hands up and down my sides, I cry out one last time as I hit my high, floods of pleasure running through my veins.

“Our beautiful mate,” Aro coos, pressing his lips to mine. Small moans left my lips at the stimulation he gave me. Running my hands through his hair, I let him move on top of me, pinning me to the bed. Taking his lips off of me and panting, he whispers, “The things I want to do to you, mia regina.”

Giving no response of my own, I stared up into my mate’s twilight eyes and kissed him once more before ripping through his clothing, becoming desperate to have him inside of me. All three of my mates chuckled at my behavior, Marcus and Caius at my sides, caressing my hips as I whined out for them to do  _ something. _

“Be patient, mia regina,” Caius purred into my side, slipping off my shirt with ease. I whimpered as he nipped right under my bra. Not able to stand any more of the teasing from him, I unclasped my bra, giving the three of them access to my breasts.

Marcus and Aro both growled at the sight, with Marcus attacking my left breast with his tongue, causing me to cry out. Aro simply gave me one last lust filled look before he pressed himself inside of my folds, going deep into my core with one snap of his hips. I whimpered at the stretch. I hadn’t done anything with my mates in  _ weeks _ , either too busy or too stressed to think about having our way with one another.

“ _ Aro, _ ” I whined.  _ Faster. _

My telepathic mate grinned and obliged my request, pushing my legs further apart and slamming into me with his full strength. My silent cries were then muffled by Caius’ lips, having found themselves attached to my own. Already stimulated from my first orgasm, I roll my hips into Aro’s thrusts, desperately wanting more. My mate groaned as I squeezed around him, gripping onto my hips as he fucked me in front of my other mates.  _ Please, please, it feels so good! _

“Ti senti così bene, mia dea,” Aro praises, “Ti amo tanto piccola.”

“Sei così brava per noi, tesoro,” Marcus whispers, peppering kisses along my side.

Whimpering and moaning, I allow Caius to kiss up and down my neck and jawline, his teeth grazing my sensitive spots. Giving me no warning, my blonde mate bites down on the right side of my neck, marking me for life. The tight feeling in my core snaps as he lays his claim on me, allowing me to feel my release fully.

Aro growled and snapped his hips into me faster, coming closer to the edge himself. I cry out as he releases into me, coming in steady waves. Panting, my mate edges himself out of me.

Both Caius and Marcus were at my sides, nipping at me as I came down from my high. Marcus was the one to kiss down my sides, truly worshipping me like some goddess from greek myths and legends. “ _ Marcus _ ,” I whine as he grabs a hold of my legs, looking at me lovingly. “È il tuo turno.”

Marcus purred in content before slipping himself inside of me, stretching me further with his throbbing member. Not able to hold back like I had before, I cried out at every thrust of his hips, the sensations in my guts taking over any sense of control I once had over my voice and volume.

Near screams left my body as my mate pounded himself into me, feeling the tightness of me closing in around him in my own sense of pleasure. Groans and grunts fell past his lips as he started to lose himself and his composure, grabbing me and slamming into me with no mercy whatsoever. 

Giving attention to my hard nipples, Aro pressed tender kisses along my neck and chest, keeping me in place while I was being taken by his soul brother. Caius looked at me longingly as the younger vampire screwed me senseless, kissing the area of which he claimed me with his teeth.

My mates groaned as I bucked my hips up for them all to see, Marcus eagerly pressing himself further into me, if that was even possible at this point.

“Mia bellissima regina.  _ Il mio _ ,” Marcus growled.

“Tuo, Marcus, tuo adesso. Per favore, piccola, di più,” I beg, feeling myself come closer to my release. “Dammi tutto quello che hai”

With a cry of his name, I came once more, seizing up and feeling the cool release flow through me, leaving me dazed in my own pleasure. Marcus came a few thrusts after, growling and stilling inside of me, feeling out the highs of his own orgasm.

After Marcus had moved out, I turned to face Caius, who I hadn’t paid enough attention to. “Mio re.”

“Mia regina,” he cooed at me, nuzzling at my neck, “If you are too sensitive we do not have to-”

“Come here, amore,” I pull his face up to meet mine in a heated kiss, our tongues instantly on each other. My mate groaned as I pulled off his pants and underwear, leaving him naked in the bed. “Give me everything.”

Needing no further instruction, my blonde mate spread my legs and inserted himself inside of my sensitive core, groaning loudly. He waited a few seconds to give me time to adjust to him, but soon gave up on those efforts and pounded into me just as harshly as my mates before, showing me no mercy as they chased their own highs.

Biting down on my hip, Aro leaves a mark on me. Marcus followed suit, biting down on the free side of my neck, lapping up the remaining venom. My two mates assaulted my neck and my chest, causing me to squirm and buck my hips up for Caius, who had taken to throwing my legs over his shoulder. Hitting me at a new angle, I braced myself for my last orgasm, my eyes watering from the overstimulation of it all.

“ _ Anna _ ,” Caius groaned out, kissing my legs, “ _ Ti amo cara. L'amore della mia vita. Ti amo tanto. _ ”

“Nostra,” Aro murmured into my side, licking up and down my sensitive flesh, “We love you so much. We love you, mia regina.”

“Cum for us, mia regina.  _ Our Anna _ ,” Marcus almost begs me, running his hand down my arm as he holds me down.

With my hips meeting his, I meet my high, crying out and calling Caius’ name with no shame. My blonde mate speeds up his pace, sloppily hitting my walls. With one last thrust and a long, drawn out groan, Caius finishes inside of me, panting as he slides out of my walls and falls down onto the large bed.

My body sensitive from all of my previous orgasms, I roll over onto Marcus, who laughs and holds me. Caius and Aro snuggle next to us, perfectly happy to wrap their arms over me.

“That was new,” I comment, almost breathless as I flip onto my stomach, rubbing my face into Marcus’ hard chest. “I love you all.”

“Amore,” Caius coos out, entwining our fingers as he runs a free hand through my chocolate brown hair, “I love you so much.”

“Our beautiful mate. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of eternity with you,” Marcus swoons, kissing my head as I rub out all of my scent on him. “You’re so cute, Anna.”

“The cutest,” Aro backs up, kissing my free hand. “Our mate.”

“My mates,” the three of them purr in content, “I love you all so much. Spending the rest of eternity with you will be the best time in the world. Sei tutto quello che voglio in questo mondo. Se ho te, sarò sempre felice.”


	6. When You Have an Issue, Come to the Volturi

Whatever was happening downstairs didn’t matter much to me. Our party likely raged on through the night as my mates and I stayed together, snuggling and giving our affections. We would have stayed like that for the entirety of the next day if Jane and Alec hadn’t walked in, Jane holding Helios in her arms.

“Mom, can we take Heelie out to the park?” Alec asked, unphased by the fact that all of us were under the covers, clearly naked. “We’ll make sure that he doesn’t get into any trouble, we promise.”

“Take Afton as well,” The two of them hissed, “Be nice to Afton, he’s Heelie’s soul brother as well as your fellow guard and covenmate. Wear your contacts when you go out and make sure that the wolves don’t bother you while you’re out. We don’t want any commotion because they’re racist.”

“Of course, Mom!” The three of them cheered before exiting the room, Helios in their arms.

“How long do you think we will be staying here, il mio amore?” Aro asks from my side, kissing up my neck to my jawline, “How much food do you think we have left after that party?”

“Enough for at least one more day, Aro,” my mate smiled before kissing my cheek, leaving me a bit flustered.  _ Even after all these months, you still make me crazy. _

“I am glad, Anna,”  _ Damn you and your mind reading,  _ “You secretly love it, mia regina.”

____________________________________________

Walking down the stairs of the house, I could see Rosalie and Emmett cleaning up, taking out all of the trash that had been left. Many of the guards were lounging about the rooms, taking sips of the bags of blood they would have to drink to satiate their thirst while they were unable to hunt in the town.  _ You’re lucky, Forks, because I wish I could hunt wherever I want, but I won’t. I don’t want to upset Jacob or some other dumb wolf that likely hates all vampires without even getting to see it from their perspective. Some of us are bad, but most of us aren’t. _

The racism that I had heard about coming from the wolves surprised me, as I would think Natives would know enough about how racism negatively impacted societies. They had been stereotyped throughout the centuries, so why would they do the same to us? One could say that if they had one bad experience to go off of, anyone could be racist, but clearly that isn’t the case, so their opinions on the entirety of the vampire species was invalid and judgemental.

Thankfully Jacob hadn’t made any negative comments about me being a vampire like he had to the Cullens. I think that my turning finally got through to him that humans are different, just like vampires. Hell, we all used to be human.

All of the bad blood between shifters and vampires did go back a long time, but if we all worked on understanding one another, things could change. Shifters and vampires don’t have to hate one another just because of their species. Jacob was fated to be with a hybrid, that should be proof enough that things can change.

“What are we going to do today?” I yelp as Jasper runs right behind me, catching me off guard. “Sorry, sis, didn’t mean to scare ya’”

“No, it’s fine,” I take an unneeded breath, “We can do whatever we want for the most part. After Heelie and some of the guard come back from the park we may go on a hunt. Of course, you don’t have to participate if you don’t want to, I know how you feel about human life.”

“I’ll stay back and wait for you all. There’s lots of things to see in the woods and such. Plenty of campers in the area during the winter. You should have a good hunt,” I smile and nod, looking forward to the prospects of actually  _ hunting _ instead of just being  _ fed _ by Heidi and her allure to the humans. “Rose, Emmett, and I will likely go to the lakes. Things are fun around there.”

“No humans should stumble upon you in the sun,” he nodded, “Also, make sure nobody breaks the ice on the lakes. It looks suspicious and we could be tracked. Technically we aren’t supposed to be near some of the woods around Washington, but we know that humans don’t follow the laws. It shall be their means for their demise.”

A loud knock could be heard from the front of the house.  _ Smells like a wet dog out there. Shifters. Damn, mother nature gave them the worst scent. We probably don’t smell good to them either, but that stench will never get off the porch now. _

Taking it upon myself, I run over and open the door, only to see Jacob and Renesmee. Both of them looked a bit awkward as they stood there at the front door, the shifter rubbing his neck in discomfort.

“Good to see you, Jake,” I gave him a warm smile, not yet stepping outside of my father’s home, “What is it that you need?”

“I wanted to ask you something,” Jacob admitted. “Really, you’re the only one who could answer something like this. I also wanted to congratulate you on making a fool of Bella. I used to like her, but now I can see that she hates you for no reason. You clearly love your son and I can respect that.”

“Whatever you need to ask, I’ll always be here, Jake,” his face softened. “I wish that things could have been different between Bella and I. We were friends at one point. Her opinions on my diet, on how I thought about eating humans, shouldn’t have torn us apart the way that it did. What I do isn’t as destructive to nature. If eating animals did not further the extinction crisis we are dealing with on Earth, I may have picked up the diet like she wanted.”

“That’s the thing, it makes sense when you say it like that. She always talks about human life, but she never cares about the animals,” I laugh. It was true, Bella never cared to think about what other life she took, the life of something that helped the world run. “Onto my question. I need an unbiased answer from someone that isn’t Alice.”

“Of course.”

“I don’t think that Bella and Edward are caring for Renesmee as they need to be. I have no clue how you take care of a hybrid, but I need to know if what they are doing is considered abuse or not,” My smile falls as I took down at the young girl who clung to her mate, looking for his comfort. “They make her study all day, nothing else. Yeah, she has some free time, but that time is used for sleeping and eating. They aren’t hunting as much as they probably should. Nessie is always hungry and they just give her the human food that she doesn’t really like.”

“Your imprint, which acts as your mate, needs to feed on blood multiple times a  _ day. _ Helios drinks human blood from a blood bag. They eat when they get hungry, not when it is most convenient. If Nessie is using her mind, she will need even more food. Or if she is using her gift. A vampire’s gifts use up blood,” I explain. “Ignorance, maybe, but whether or not they are deliberately not feeding her enough remains unknown.”

**_Edward and Bella aren’t doing it on purpose, but they don’t take her hunger seriously, since normal vampires do not grow and need as much blood as a hybrid child. Nessie is a bit underweight and her mind is not supposed to be strained as much as it has been._ **

“The studies need to halt. Maeve thinks it unwise to be pressuring her to undertake so many studies at such a young age. Helios is many months older and he spends many hours a day doing work, but he also has many days off if he gets tired,” Jake nods, allowing Nessie to reach into his pockets and grab a little fidget toy. “I would hate to impose on the human vs. animal blood debate, but it may benefit her to drink off of blood bags during her growing years. Maybe after she reaches full maturity she will act like a normal vampire in her bloodlust, but I have yet to ask any of the other hybrids about how much they eat.”

“No, you’re right,” His face turned to understanding, “Why didn’t I think of that? She’s a kid and needs to grow. They couldn’t get animal blood into her before she was born and had to use human blood to help Bella and her, so it would be the same while she’s growing outside.”

“Have you talked to her mother about your concerns?” Jake nodded, “What did she say?”

“Yelled at me for even suggesting that she drink human blood. Claimed it would make her a monster like Helios. Kid doesn’t seem like a monster to me, just sassy as hell. Plus, Nessie could never be evil or monstrous,” I shook my head as he told the story, “Alice backed her up and Edward was fuming when Bella told him. I was just trying to help and they just turned on me after finally letting me sit in with Nessie during her lessons.”

“They weren’t letting you see her during the day?” Nessie shook her head before putting back her toy. “Nessie, how long have they not been letting you see your mate?”

“About four weeks,” she says quietly, “It hurts when he leaves the room.”

“Physically?” she nods, “That isn’t okay, Jake. Mates have to be near each other. When Caius was attacked I had to be near him all day. Whatever restraints you two put on each other when it comes to distance cannot be denied. To do so is illegal in and of itself.”  
Speaking of the law against taking mates away from each other struck Jake by surprise. The law had been created many centuries ago and had never been broken, every vampire understanding that mates are sacred and are not to be messed with. Bonds pulling people together in such an intimate way can drive someone to insanity.

“Against the law?” Jake’s voice was low, but deep.

“Yes, keeping mates away from each other is against the  _ law. _ If Edward and Alice know this and continue to keep you two apart just because they want Renesmee to study, they have broken the law. I do not think it wise to conduct a trial on the matter, but such behavior in the future will bring us to their home and we will show them no mercy.”

Before Jake could say anything, Aro had found himself beside me, holding my hand. “What is the problem out here, shifter?”

“Jake was just asking a few questions on how to raise a hybrid, Aro, no need to worry,” I calmed my mate, who was clearly agitated by the presence of any wolf.  _ At least you’re being civil. _ “But yes, I can say that from my experience raising my son that hybrids should be drinking human blood, by a bag or from the human directly. I fear that your mate is a bit skinny for her age. Her mother was not this thin at her age, was she?”

“No, Bella was not as small as Nessie,” Jake confirms.

“This is worrying,” Aro admits after his eyes gloss over, seeing and hearing our previous conversation, “Cases of child neglect have never had to go through the Volturi, but they may in the future if more hybrids appear. Young Renesmee should be eating at least twice that of a normal vampire’s hunt  _ per day _ if she is to age correctly. The consequences of not doing so may be severe.”

“Bella won’t listen,” Jake shakes his head as Nessie looks up at Aro, who is still fascinated by her gifts.

“You have our permission to take your mate if you feel that she will not be safe in the presence of her parents. Her mother and father are not her soul parents, which is not odd, as many are not destined to be parents. Without a bond such as that they have no right over the child in the eyes of the law. A mate is worth more than a parent, as a mate will drop everything just like a soul parent will. As I will always say, all children deserve parents, but not all parents deserve children,” Aro gives his say on the matter, which surprises Jacob.

“I can take my imprint away from them?” He asks again.

“Take her wherever you wish. Inside of Italy would keep them away, as they are barred from our territory for the rest of time. Although I may suggest you tell them before leaving so they don’t attack  _ us _ .”

“If they attack you, my pack will stand on your side of the battle this time,” Jake promises, “Nessie means everything to me and as their Alpha they will listen.”

“A good leader you have become, Jacob Black, but remember that three vampires can be dangerous, especially when one is a newborn.”

“Do you think that you could let Nessie meet your son?” Jacob asks, “She’s been asking to meet him all day.”

“Come here tonight and he will be here. Right now he is at the park with his siblings,” I invite the two of them, “Make sure that Edward and Bella don’t know that you’re coming here.”

“Obviously, the harpy would kill me,” Nessie cringed at the thought, “Hey, I’m not dying on you, Ness. As long as you’re alive, I will be here. Forever?”

“Forever.”  _ The two of them are like siblings, but I can see how they’re perfect for each other. Too bad they couldn’t have met when they were older. That would make it less awkward.  _ **_Fate has a way of fucking with people, doesn’t it?_ **

_ That it does, Maeve. _


	7. Standing Up for Yourself and Your Imprint

The conversation of Renesmee’s wellbeing did irk me, as I knew that Bella never had really wanted to have kids in her life. In many ways she was too selfish to be a mother, always leaving people for the sake of Edward and all of his beauty. It was no surprise that she had claimed during the trial that Renesmee was the most beautiful thing in the world. She called her  _ perfect _ . While many may think that calling their children perfect is a good thing, it can lead to feelings of either overconfidence in their abilities or failure when they don’t succeed.

Nessie was clearly shy, that much was obvious. Bella may have come out of her shell a bit, but her daughter was naturally introverted, sticking to her mate and not interacting with many others. Not that it was bad for her to do so, but it did make having a relationship with people like Edward, Alice, and Bella hard.

The three of them wanted her to be the best, better than my son, but didn’t even think that maybe, just maybe, being the best wasn’t the most important thing in the world. Renesmee is beautiful, but there are people more beautiful. That does not mean that she is not pretty, but they must think of her as more than her beauty and ability to learn.

Even geniuses need time to themselves, with the people they care about. Nessie’s parents had not given her this. For heaven’s sake, she’s a  _ child _ . Children need free time. That is the only way for them to grow socially and emotionally. You don’t learn emotions while learning the history of the world. Maybe you learn some social things, but Nessie isn’t in a normal school and won’t have the ability to make new friends.

That was another thing that Edward and Bella had taken away from Nessie, the ability to make long lasting friendships. I could see that Nahuel was interested in having a friend outside of his estranged hybrid family, but Bella didn’t seem very keen on any male near her daughter, which was odd considering that she already has her mate in her life.

All of the missing pieces that would have made her judgement calls logical remained unseen, most likely not even existing.  _ Whatever Bella touches seems to get hurt, even her own child. It would be awful for someone else to have to care for Nessie, but abuse is abuse and vampires need to recognize hybrid children aren’t like normal humans or vampires. They are a completely different species that includes both traits of humans and vampires. _

“I do hope that young Renesmee gets the good life she deserves, even with awful people like her parents,” I laugh at Aro’s disdain for Edward and Bella.

“With Jacob as her mate, she should be great. He’s very protective and clearly was willing to break alliances with the Olympic Coven in seeing us if it meant that he could help his imprint,” Aro nods, taking in a deep breath, “Don’t worry too much, darling, Nessie will get the food and love she deserves. Jake will make sure of it.”

“You know I cannot help myself.”

____________________________________________

Jacob’s POV

“What do you mean,  _ you went to the Volturi _ ?” Bella almost hisses from inside the kitchen, grabbing a yogurt from the fridge.  _ She hates that flavor, you know that.  _ “My daughter eats a fine amount of food and you know it! She’s my daughter and you have no right to tell me how to parent her when you don’t even have kids!”

“Nessie is my imprint, so actually it is within my right to do whatever it takes to make sure she’s happy,” my former love looks over at me, betrayal clear on her pale face. Those golden eyes of her twitch in anger as she slams the refrigerator door, almost breaking the damn thing with her strength.

“Don’t speak to me like that ever again, Jake,” she orders, about to take the yogurt to my imprint, who was sitting down on the couch with one of her wolf plushies.

“Helios has way more blood than her, Bella, and he’s on the human stuff. She needs to be having more animal blood if you want her on that diet for the rest of time,” Bella shook her head at me and headed over to her daughter, handing her the yogurt cup. I heard Nessie start to fuss as I knew for a fact she hated blueberry yogurt. “She hates that stuff, Bells, stop trying to get her to eat it.”

“She’ll eat what we have now that  _ Helios’ parents _ forced us out of our own  _ home _ ,” Her voice was laced in hatred as she tried to get Nessie to eat the blueberry yogurt.  _ She’s not going to eat it even if you told her she could do whatever she wanted for the next three years. _

“No, I hate that kind,” Nessie protested, turning her nose up and politely pushing the food away. “Can I just have the vanilla one? I love the vanilla one.”

“Eat what I give you, Nessie,” Bella’s annoyed expression was quite obvious as Nessie shook her head again, not willing to eat the purple yogurt. “How many times have I told you that you need to eat what I give you?”

“It doesn’t matter because I’m not going to eat it,” She says, standing up and walking away from her mother with her plushie in hand. “Don’t make me eat the foods you know I hate and maybe we can work off of that. Jake, can we go get something better to eat? I want vanilla.”

“Of course-” Bella cut me off.

“No, Jake, she needs to learn how to eat the foods that we give her and have in this house!” Starting to raise her voice, I saw as Bella started to become unhinged at the thought of me getting her daughter some different flavor of yogurt.  _ Why is this such a big deal? We have enough money to go and get vanilla yogurt. There is no reason for you to be acting like this right now. Let your kid eat what flavor of yogurt she wants. _

“Come on, Nessie,” I whisper, calling my imprint over, not wanting her to hear any more arguing. It couldn’t be good for her to hear her mate and her mother fighting over something as stupid as blueberry vs. vanilla yogurt. Of course, the issue had gone beyond that, but that is what it had started as.

“You aren’t taking her out, Jake,” Bella points a finger at me like a child would, “I won’t let you force yourself into my ways of parenting.”

“Yeah, well, Nessie is my imprint and I’m her mate, so it seems like I’m going to do just that and there is nothing you can do to stop me. So, I’m gonna just take her out and you can cool down in here,” I attempt to assert myself while still keeping the peace between us, as Bella was clearly starting to lose her composure.  _ Has nobody ever told you what to do in your life? I thought it was just Edward, but it may just be you. _

“No, you aren’t going to take her out,” She denies. “Nessie, eat your yogurt and we can go out and do something later.”

“I hate blueberry yogurt,” Nessie whispers, “You can’t make me eat something that I hate.”

“Blueberry yogurt is what we have in the house and it is what you are going to eat until your father goes to the store next week,” I rolled my eyes at the empty promise.  _ He was supposed to go to the store before the potential fight but he never did. Guess he was too busy with you to even care for his own kid, my imprint. Do you even hear yourself right now? How controlling do you plan on being? _

“That’s what you said before, but it never happened!” Nessie exclaims, breaking her usually calm nature, “Stop lying to me and just let me be happy and eat vanilla yogurt! If my mate is willing to bring me to the store and get me the stuff you should be happy that I have a mate to do something for me! Jake is always doing stuff for you, mom, so why are you always so upset with him? He cares about me!”

“You don’t know anything-” Bella tries to speak, but Nessie cuts her off.

“Daddy isn’t even your mate! I know more than you do because Jake is my mate and the bond we share is more than you and daddy will ever get! Let me be happy with my yogurt choice and let Jake take me to the freaking store!”

I had never heard Nessie get so angry before, her voice almost cracking as Bella glared at the two of us like she  _ hated  _ what was going on. This was supposed to be her mother, the person who besides me, wanted what was best for her over anything else in the world. She wasn’t supposed.

Bella had gotten so controlling over the past three weeks. Even before the battle she was doing things that could be considered emotional abuse to both Nessie and I. The two of us just wanted to be together, in a brotherly way right now due to Nessie’s age, and take care of each other. It was all I ever wanted. Whatever she needed from me she would get. If that meant going against Bella, I would do it in a heartbeat. Nothing that I felt for Bella before could stop me from taking care of Nessie.

“Your father and I have a better relationship than that of a mate because we fell for each other  _ without a bond _ ,” Nessie took a step away from her mother as she said this, her face almost falling completely at the claim. “I let you be with Jake because I know that you care about him, but if he is going to tear our family apart that won’t be the care.”

“Illegal,” I whisper under my breath, remembering what Aro and Anna had explained, “Taking us away from each other is illegal under vampire and shifter law.”

“Who told you that? Edward never said there was some stupid  _ law _ against me parenting my child to be dependant of her  _ mate _ ,” I gave her a look of disgust.

“The law isn’t to inhibit your parenting, it’s to make sure that you don’t  _ abuse  _ people, Bella. Your laws aren’t that awful, don’t go crapping on them just because you don’t have control anymore,” Bella gasped as I leveled the accusation, “What you are doing is abusive and controlling. I won’t let you take Nessie away from me. I would kill anyone that tried to take my imprint away from me, and Nessie would do the same for me, her mate.”

Motherhood had never been what Bella wanted, or deserved for that matter. The woman in front of me had the motherly instinct of a reptile, only caring about the baby being born and not caring that much afterwards. This girl had no motherly role models in her life and had clearly not learned much from Esme.

Isabella Masen stood in front of me, furious and out of control. Within a blink of an eye she tried to hit me, but I quickly dodged her. She had tried to hit me in front of her own  _ daughter. _ She tried to  _ hit _ her  _ daughter’s mate. _

Nessie let out a feral roar as she grabbed her mother by the arm, ripping it clean off and throwing it down on the floor. My imprint had never been aggressive before, but she had nothing but anger burning in those coal eyes of hers. Bella let out a scream of terror as she realized what had happened.

“What is wrong with you?” She questioned, crumbling to the floor, “You’re grounded for life, Renesmee Carlie!”

“No I am not!” She yelled at her, “You can’t do anything to me because I am leaving!”

“You can’t leave! You’re my daughter and I am your mother!” Bella upped her stance, looking at me with hatred in her eyes, “You can’t take her away from Edward and I! We are her parents and we love our daughter even more than you do!”

“That isn’t possible. She’s my entire life while she’s only part of your life,” she growls, “You love Edward more than your own child.”

“Not true! Nessie, how could you let him speak to me like this? I gave birth to you!” Nessie rolled her eyes before tugging at my arm as a way to get us to leave the situation. I could tell that she was starting to get even more upset by the tears that were glazing over her eyes, almost ready to fall.

I couldn’t let my imprint be sad. Her being upset meant that  _ I failed _ .

“Let’s go, Nessie,” the young hybrid nods and takes my hand, starting to drag me away from the scene and the house.

“You can’t do this!” Bella yelled as we got closer to the front of the house, trying to reattach the arm that Nessie tore off. “You can’t leave us! We are a family! You can’t take my daughter away from me! Anna’s laws mean nothing in this house!”

“That’s the thing, Bella,” I let out an annoyed chuckle, “Nobody is above the law.”


	8. Prep For the Hunt

Jane’s POV

“Don’t touch that, brother!” I called out to Helios, who was trying to grab all of the leaves in the park. Thankfully the park was neither full or very small, so finding another place to take him to would not be an issue. No humans came to the parks during the winter months for some reason. _Just works to our advantage._

“But it looks so pretty, Jane,” Helios whined, grabbing another leaf and putting it in his pocket. The amber leaf did not look like it belonged in the park, as winter had already come, but it sure did have some beautiful colors. What kind of tree it had come from remained unknown, but if it made my brother happy for a few more minutes I would let him have it.

“Make sure that you don’t eat another leaf, Heelie, or mom will be _pissed_ ,” Afton reminded our younger brother, who nodded and skipped along the side of the park with Alec, having the time of his life in the snow.

The winter months had always been my favorite time of year, and now I would be able to spend them with more family than I had ever had in my life. Our family had grown in size and we had enough cheer to go around during the winter. Christmas had been a joy, with all of the colorful lights Afton and Santiago had put up with Felix’s help. Those few nights had been the best nights of my life. There was no other year that we had all been so happy. With Marcus finally out of his depression, everyone else could feel happy at the same time.

Before I could walk over to the rest of the group I snarled, smelling a _wolf_ in the area. Whether or not they smelled bad didn’t matter, they didn’t like us, called us _leeches._ I would not stoop so low to calling them mutts, but they seemed inclined to use their own form of derogatory slurs towards our species, meaning that they had already gone lower than us, or at least me.

Jacob Black made his way into the park, his young hybrid mate clinging to his side. I could sense her upset from where I stood, her heart beating even faster than normal, which was already extremely fast.

“Didn’t think we would be running into you,” I admit, trying to stop myself from saying anything negative. The wolves had been nothing but rude to us. Even if they were supposed to _protect_ humans from vampires, if we weren’t going to kill in their territory they had no need to be so hostile all the time. “Nice day for the hybrids.”

“Look, we need your help,” The young hybrid spoke up, “My mom is being a brat and I don’t want to be near her anymore. She’s done nothing but crap on you all and I would rather be near others of my kind than drink that filthy animal blood and listen to her rants. Dad is doing the same and they always want me to eat blueberry yogurt, which I hate.”

“Blueberry yogurt seems to be a dislike among hybrids,” I laugh, remembering the first time we fed the food to Helios. He had sworn it was the worst thing he ever tasted and claimed he would never eat it again. “Well, you don’t have to stay with her. You have a mate to take care of you until you reach maturity.”

“Aro and Anna said that, but I think that Bella and Edward are going to come after us.” _Typical of that bitch. Or better yet, she’ll break down and try to guilt them into coming back. Those two are the worst parents I have ever seen. I thought some of the village parents were bad, but they’re saints compared to Edward and Bella._

“If that _little bitch_ ,” Alec tries to stop Helios from saying anything more, but fails miserably, “Tries to take away your mate, what you do is tell me and I’ll destroy her myself. What is she going to do? I’m a prince and I have big brothers and sisters who can help protect a fair maiden like yourself.”

“Heelie-” My twin wraps his hand around his mouth to make him stop. “Sorry about his mouth, it seems we have had a bad influence on it.”

“No worries,” Jacob laughs it off, picking up Renesmee, “How are we supposed to get rid of them if they do come for her. Charlie can’t really do anything since he’s human, but it could become a risk of exposure. Plus, if I was to leave with her, it could make them lash out at you. None of you deserve to pick up my mess.”

It was a good question. I was surprised that he even thought to think of us when making such a decision. _Maybe this one wolf is better than the other pack. Lord, they were so annoying. I think I would rather die than hang around them for another day._

“If for whatever reason they do attack us or you, they will be promptly executed. Likely by Caius, he will not allow Edward in his presence any longer after what he said,” I sighed, remembering all of the stories he used to tell about the dark times vampires had gone through.

“Just give the Volturi a call,” Alec says, “We’re here to help.”

“Come on back to the house,” Afton spoke up, “They can’t get you back there. Plus, You may want to come to the hunt. You and the Cullens can do some animal hunting instead of human hunting. I bet they would like to have some company.”

“That would be great,” Jacob’s face lit up and Nessie smiled from his side, clinging on to her mate like he was her lifeline. “We can come back after I get Nessie some food. Stupid blueberry yogurt.”

“Disgusting,” Heelie and Nessie said at the same time.

____________________________________________

Anna’s POV

The hours leading up to our hunt were mostly spent making sure that the areas would be ‘closed’ to the public, which just meant that some stupid teenagers would be going missing instead of entire families of people. That would not only be amoral, but a risk of exposure. The Volturi would not be breaking their own laws.

Jane had already informed me that Jacob and Renesmee would be joining us. I was glad that the two of them finally stood up to Bella. Neglect is a serious issue that I knew too well, and from the way that my daughter described the looks on their faces what had occurred had upset the two of them quite a bit.

While it would be an issue if Bella tried to forcefully take back her daughter, I tried to not think about it too much. If she tried, she would fail and we would take her out with ease. Alice and Bella would be working together, of course, since Alice’s gift of foresight could be unblocked by Maeve.

 **_Edward knows, but he doesn’t know where you are. His gift hasn’t been working well thanks to yours truly, so he won’t be able to find your minds anywhere. His tracking ability may mean that you need to cover Nessie’s scent, but beyond that he’s useless._ ** _Thanks, Maeve._

Maeve’s information had been coming in less readily, with myself often needing to ask her before she gave me that precious info that could save some time. It didn’t bother me much, at least I knew she was giving me some privacy. Her sometimes invasive nature had settled down. Even if she was only a voice in my head, I considered her to be a good friend. She was there for me just like any good friend would, so why should she not get the title?

“Do we have everyone?” Caius asks from behind me, looking out among the crowd of vampires. “Is anyone absent from this damn field trip?!”

“Leave the stragglers,” Demetri suggests, “Afton you better be around here somewhere or we’re leaving you behind.”

“I’m literally right next to you,” Afton rolls his eyes and hits his friend over the head with a newspaper, “You dumb bimbo.”

“Useless tool-”

“Sniffy wiffy-”

“At least I have a nose, Voldemort looking ass-”

“That is enough!” Caius closes the pissing match between his covenmates, “Lord you two would be dead if it weren’t for this damn coven. Grow a pair and settle yourselves outside, during the hunt, where nobody can see or hear you.”

“Can I kill him?” Afton shoots him a glare, hissing slowly.

“No, Demetri, you can’t kill your coven mate and fellow guard, now go cry about it or eat your feelings once we get to the forests,” Demetri sighed and slapped Afton on the arm before walking over to his soul-brother, playing some sort of hand game with him that nobody else could understand. _This is what happens when you’ve been friends with someone for like a thousand years. You just play with each other’s hands and laugh about it._

“Takes maybe a century but yeah,” I laugh at Aro’s comment and kiss his cheek, hopping over the bench and calling everyone to the door.

“Get off of me, you buffoon!” Jane hissed at her twin, the two of them going at it while the rest of the guards tried to get around them, not willing to piss off Jane. “Alec, I’ll fucking rip your arm off you damn child!”

“We’re the same age!” He combatted, grabbing her arm and stopping her from hurting him, tackling her to the door. I watched as my two children went after each other. With Helios in my arms, my mouth drops. “Bitch get the fuck off of me!”

“You’re the bitch!” She grabbed his hair, “Immortally a 14 year old bitch!”

“We are literally twins!” He points out again, flipping her on her back.

“That is enough! Lord first it’s Demetri and Afton and now you two are acting like the children you are! Alec, let your sister go. Jane, stop harassing Alec and get your blonde ass out of the door this instant!” Caius commanded, done with their fighting for the day.

Believe it or not, the two of them had some nasty fights. Even if they are soul siblings, they’re also twins, which means fights are bound to break out over various things. Who gets which human to eat, since they have the same tastes, or which one gets to lead training for the day. Most of the time one of them will win and the other will give up, but we had somewhere to be and we didn’t have time for them to battle it out in the living room.

“What is it with everyone fighting today?” Marcus ponders.

“I have no idea,” Aro whispers, walking out of the house to see the rest of the coven and company.

I simply sighed and turned around, walking to the outside of the house. It was our last day here. After this, we would be heading back to Volterra, our home. This would hopefully be the last time I saw Forks. The place held too many bad memories for me to consider coming back for a vacation. Once I had seen the place as a home, but now I was immortal and had a new home. Volterra would always be my home. There was nowhere I would rather be.

Jacob and Nessie were standing quite far away from the rest of the group, but that was because the young girl was playing with some sticks on the ground. It was sad to think that her mother had not given her the time to be a child, which was what she was. A sweet child. 

Never in my time had I met a child with her temperament. Not exactly shy around the people she cared about but still not as extroverted as Helios, Renesmee Masen had her own way to communicate what she wanted to the people around her. With her gift, it must have been much easier.

Her gifts were interesting as well. To have two different gifts was unknown in the vampire world. Yes, Helios technically had two gifts as well, a form of happiness through his bonds (although he could not see the bonds between people like Marcus could) and a type of light that could cut through anything, but he did not have any gifts relating to his parents. In a way that made him even rarer, but I would say the two of them were equally matched in rarity, both in different respects.

This hunt would be one to remember. Helios had never hunted and neither had I. From the sound of it, our coven had not held a recreational hunt in quite some time.

“Well, Volturi and everyone else, let’s go _hunt_.”


	9. The Hunt PART ONE

On our way out of Forks I had seen so many people just  _ stare _ at us as we walked in a group.  _ We should have taken cars. Seriously, the humans here are just looking at us. So are the elders of the tribe. Stop looking and just ignore us. Leave us alone. _

Even the humans who weren’t staring into our souls were put off by our presence. Some whispered and pointed to me. A normal reaction considering that I had gone  _ missing _ over six months ago. Finding out that someone was alive and well with people in black hoods surrounding them must not be a pleasant experience. If I were them I would be calling the police and telling them that I was alive.

No matter how unpleasant seeing everyone look at us like we were some sort of crazy cult was, we moved forward and found our way into our hunting territory relatively quickly. Many would have assumed we were crazy teenagers and young adults just trying to party in peace. Since Helios and Renesmee were shielded by Afton and Jaspers’ gifts, people did not try to claim we were kidnapping a child and making them a human sacrifice.

“When do you think humans will show up?” I asked my blonde mate, who had taken to watching for any signs of activity in the trees, human or otherwise. I watched as he pursed his lips, looking down at me.

“Give it thirty minutes and we’ll be feasting. People in this area constantly have small parties in the woods. We’ll light a fire afterwards and nobody will be able to tell,” I nod, looking down at the ground below us.

It had taken about ten minutes for me to be able to catch the scent of a human.  _ Male, drinks too much, sweet.  _ **_Are you sure you aren’t a tracker?_ ** _ We may never know, Maeve. _

Caius turned his head to me before motioning down. Three humans had joined him and I could see four following not far behind. Young adults, maybe in their mid-twenties. Both men and women were in the group. The men were not bad looking, but had no traits that would make someone stand out.

The girl that stood by the man I had smelled had yellowish blonde hair with terribly dyed black ends. Her blood didn’t smell as appealing as his, but she would do well as a meal. Those smokey grey eyes looked up, but we were too far up in the trees to be more than just shadows. As the girl looked back down, I could hear her heartbeat beat faster and faster, clinging onto the man with good blood.

Four boys trailed behind, but they didn’t smell that great to me at all. I heard a snarl come from one of the trees.  _ Looks like someone has a singer.  _ **_Alec is having a great day._ **

“Get a hold of yourself,” Jane hissed, making sure that her twin didn’t ruin things too much. Even older vampires were known to get volatile around their blood singers. My son was over 1000 years old and he had trouble around them. “You’ll get them once the rest come along.”

Alec held his breath, forcing himself to control his bloodlust and hunger. His eyes were pitch black as the sun set around us, leaving the humans to near midnight.

“How many?” Aro asked from another tree.

“Fifteen dead in a forest fire,” Demetri answered. “There are more about 20 miles inward. Group of seven.”

“There’s thirty of us,” Aro mused, “Do we have to share?”

“No,” the tracker said, “Even more over the Canadian border. Thirty five humans gathered. Smells like the homeless have a little camp.”

“Perfect,” Marcus chuckles darkly.

Many of the humans down below must have heard the rustling in the trees above because the girls let out screeches of terror, not knowing that we could hear every single noise they were making. We could hear their hearts thumping in their chests and their blood pumping through their veins.

It made venom pool in my mouth.

“What are you screaming about, Trixie?” The man with the nice blood asked his girlfriend, “Nothing is gonna get us here. The worst thing we could see today is a cop.”

“Or a wolf,” she trembled at the thought, “Or worse, a werewolf.”

_She’s lucky the shifters only eat animals. No Children of the Moon around here either. Caius would throw a fit._ “What if something worse comes? I bet vampires would love to lurk around here, waiting for stupid kids to come into the woods. Why did we have to go out tonight? The rest of the group won’t know it if we leave.”  
“Don’t be a chicken, Trix,” he creepily rubbed at her thigh, “Tonight's gonna be great for all of us. Imagine it, a night away from school and away from those stupid parents of yours.”

At that moment I realized that the man was much older than this young girl, who must have only been around 17.  _ How old is she, Maeve?  _ **_I’d say 16._ ** _ What the hell is he doing with her?  _ **_He lusts for her._ **

“You only say that because they don’t like me seeing you,” she argues.

“Seeing a guy who can show you a good time?” I shudder at how close he was getting to her. His girlfriend shrinked away as he whispered in her ear, “This time will be different. I can have you all to myself. Come on, Trix, you know you want me.”

“I’m waiting-” he cuts her off.

“Well make an exception for me. We don’t have to go the full way, darling, just give me some sugar and I’ll give you some experience,” All of us shook with anger in the trees as he kissed her jawline.

Looking at Aro, he growled and gave us the command to move in, not willing to see any more of his attacks on this girl. It was too bad that she would have to die, but maybe that would be better than to live with the memories of him, of what he must have done to her. This doesn’t look like it’s the first time he’s done something like this.

Elegantly jumping down from the trees, I make eye contact with the young man as he stumbles back in fear. Whimpering at the sight of me in front of him, he grabs a gun from his side, one that I had not noticed before.

“Get away from us,” his voice was barely even a whisper, “Or I’ll kill you.”

I made one step forward, making him let out an animalistic cry before he triggered the gun, firing a single bullet to my face. The roar of the gun rang out through the forest and I growled as I felt it bounce off of me, hitting one of the trees behind us. Taking another step I grab his arm and break it with my strength, forcing him to drop the gun.

“What are you?” he cried out, “Go away!”

Seeing tears roll down his face, I chuckle and move his body to face me as he tried to run. Alec moved up behind me and grabbed his blood singer by the arm, still holding himself back from eating her just yet. Everyone around us was waiting, taunting their prey. This was a hunt, and we would like to chase for a little bit longer.

“Your eyes,” the grey-eyed girl started to cry as she realized that my eyes were carmine red, “Monster! Get away from us you monster!”

Alec shushed her by putting a hand over her mouth. He never liked them to scream. It would draw too much unwanted attention if they cried out for help.

“That’s my girlfriend! Get your hands off of her you psycho!” the man yelled at Alec, who rolled his eyes and bit into her neck, feeding on her druglike blood. Her boyfriend screamed as Alec drained her, that frail body slowly dying. “You’re killing her!”

Jane smiled sadistically as she brought over her chosen prey for the day, a pale man with round glasses. Giving her brother a pat on the back, she bit into his neck as well, pumping her venom through his bloodstream.

“You’re killing them, you monsters!” he screams again, trying to wrangle his way out of my hold. As the two bodies dropped to the floor, I heard more screams of terror erupt around me as my mates and my family got their share of blood, some of them sharing their meals. Knowing that I could get more later, I gave him a sadistic smile of my own.

“What are you?” he groaned as I grabbed at his hair.

“Your worst nightmare,” I giggle before sinking my venom-coated teeth into his neck, making him let out the most satisfying scream I had ever heard in my life. No actor could pull off what he had. His cries of pain were what made me want  _ more _ , made me want to drain him of everything that he had.

This was what it was like to hunt, to become the predator when you had always been the prey. I had once been like that girl, innocent and weak, but now I was the queen of the Volturi, a vampire with a gift like no other. It was wrong to love to eat, but I wanted so much more than what he gave me. His blood couldn’t satisfy me the way that most had. It was the pure  _ revenge _ that I could get for what he had done to that young girl. Even if she was dead, her abuser would be as well, sharing and sealing their fates in an odd sense of poetic justice.

Dropping down on the floor, I see the remains of his blood pool, wasted by my venom. He was dead, his heart had stopped beating over thirty seconds ago, but my venom had taken a while to pollute his blood. He was useless, just a dead body on the floor. I couldn’t even see him as a human that I killed. Frankly I didn’t care.

It didn’t take long for everyone to finish up their meals, including my son, who had shared with his fathers. Helios had blood running down his chin, leftovers from his bloody meal. Walking over to him, I kiss his head and wipe up the blood with a handkerchief.

“Thank you, mamma,” Heelie said, wrapping his arms around my waist. “I’m still hungry.”

“I know baby, we’ll get you some more food,” Demetri nods and points to the border. “Make sure that the rest of us know where we’re going.”

“They know that we’ll be back by dawn. We have quite a while,” Aro reminds me. I nod and hold my son in my arms, looking north. “I’ll burn everything.”

“Keep up,” Caius snarks, kissing my cheek before moving to the front with Demetri and Felix, who were leading the hunt.

Quick on my feet, I move through the trees with ease, making sure that I stayed near everyone while also not making too much noise. We wouldn’t want to alert wildlife or humans. The animals of the wild were not for hunting.

By the time we had made it to the border the sky had already lightened up a bit, no longer midnight black. The stars were much harder to see in the night sky as we found our way to where the supposed  _ party _ was being held.

This time there were more people, all homeless and looking cold from the snow. Canada in the winter was not the time or place to not have shelter, not that they could control their situation. With many older folk, I could tell that no younger people were in this group. All pale and with little to cover them, these people would likely die tonight from the cold. If hypothermia had not set in yet, it would in a few hours.

With a smile on my face and my son in my arms, I and the rest of my family go in for the kill.


	10. Bonds Are Crazy Things

I knew that when the sun came up we would have to return home, but that didn’t mean that we couldn’t enjoy the darkness while we could.

“Catch me if you can, Alec!” Jane teased her brother, running through the trees in the forest.

Waiting for them to catch each other, I keep Helios placed in my lap. It was good that he had his first big meal. Before we had been limiting him to one human per feeding, but from now on we may have to feed him two humans to satisfy him for the week to come. Constantly having to give him blood bags was not easy, as he could get hungry at any time and place. Being hungry  _ hurt _ and I would not be allowing my son to be in pain.

“Don’t run too far, children!” Aro called out to the two of them, who had begun their own game of tag. “We can’t draw humans to our location!”

“We know!” They call back in unison, Alec tackling Jane to the ground.

“Kids these days,” Caius mutters, fiddling around with Heelie’s jacket that he had on. Hybrids still had the ability to get cold, even if it took much more. We were standing in the middle of a dark forest during a Canadian winter, so it was well below freezing at the moment. How people had even survived out here in the first place was a mystery.

“Always running around,” Marcus tutts, walking along the sides of the trees. “What do you think will happen once we get back home? Everyone knows our little secret now.”

“Not much of a secret anymore,” Aro counters. “Although I think that we will be able to find something to do with ourselves now that all of this is over. There are always places to see and people to reconnect with. I do not think we have visited the Americas for a long time.”

“We just got off of vacation,” Caius points out, “We can’t just go back and pack our stuff to come right back. The world needs our rule, no matter how annoying that may be. I suspect that we will be quite busy once we come back to Volterra.”

“Raising a child doesn’t sound like a vacation to me,” Aro whines. “No offense, Heelie, you’re my best hybrid son and I love you more than I love my throne and myself,” our son nods and smiles into my side. “Do we have to go back right away?”

“Yes, brother,” Caius stills Aro’s dreams of travel. “Don’t fret, we shall be able to have some time to travel with our mate once we get all of our paperwork up to date, set things up so that others are able to conduct trials in our absence, and make sure that everyone calms down from this trial.”

All three of my mates sighed before nodding, understanding that we were all mentally exhausted from our latest trial, which had taken more out of us than we had expected. Having to deal with Edward and Bella left a sour taste in my mouth and having to hear about how poorly young Renesmee was being treated just made me sick to my stomach.

Bella had treated her hybrid child like she was an extension of herself, which she wasn’t. No child should be fawned over only when they do something  _ extraordinary. _ Sometimes being just ordinary is what kids want. I had known that too well in foster care, where the only time I would ever get any sort of attention, good or bad, was when I did something extreme. Attention was something that everyone craves in some way, not getting it as a child can be detrimental.

**_Rose and Jasper are heading back to the house now. They caught a few things and Emmett was able to catch a bear._ ** _ Any news?  _ **_Not that I can see clearly. Although I should warn you that your brother is getting more and more annoyed with Edward and his behavior. I think he’s become a bit protective over that hybrid girl. Not that it’s bad, just thought I would let you know._ ** _ Thanks, Maeve. _

“The sun is getting higher,” Marcus whispers, looking to the horizon that was almost blocked by the thick trees surrounding us in the Canadian wilderness. “Let us take our leave and head back to the house. We may get to see the Masen girl on the way.”

____________________________________________

Helios’ POV

Walking with my mamma was one of the most peaceful things about life. The way that she would just keep me up on her side while gracefully walking in the forest made me wonder just how she could get like that? Do all mamma’s just come as these graceful women who walk with their sons in the forest?

Feeling my own heartbeat in my chest as I closed my eyes for the ride, I feel the strangest sensation in my chest, like someone was trying to pull at me. “Mamma something is wrong,” I try to tell her, not wanting my chest to pull me away from my family.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Mamma asks, kissing my head as she stops in the forest, waiting for me to answer.

“Something is pulling at me right here,” I point to my chest, “I don’t know what it is.”

“Pulling?” daddy seethes out the question before pulling me into his arms, causing me to fuss around. “Marcus, check his bonds. Something is wrong.”

My daddy’s eyes glaze over as he kisses my head, “I can’t tell what’s wrong with him. It’s like he’s being pulled somewhere. Similar to when Jasper was calling our mate.”

“He doesn’t seem particularly  _ depressed _ , does he Marcus?” one of my daddies questioned.  _ What’s wrong with me? Why do I want to go where it’s pulling me? This is so confusing… _

“Nothing is wrong with you, my boy,” Daddy soothes, “I promise we will figure this out for you.”

“Daddy I want to go,” I try to explain, the feeling in my chest growing stronger.

“Stay here, Heelie, we’ll just-” Not able to control my own body, I feel myself cry out as I get pulled out of my mamma’s arms.

“Heelie!”

____________________________________________

Anna’s POV

I yelped as Helios fell out of my arms onto the snowy forest floor. He had never just  _ fallen _ off of me, only sometimes struggling to find himself a comfortable space to stay.  _ What the hell! No no no, come back up. Don’t fall down, baby, just stay with mamma. Who knew having a child would be this difficult. _

“Helios please don’t-” Marcus tries to calm the situation, but our son just moves farther away from us, almost if he can’t control his own body. “Don’t go that way! Stay with us!”

“I’m trying!” he shouts, attempting to stop his feet, “I can’t stop moving this way! It won’t let me! I don’t want to get lost!”

“It’s okay baby,” I say, trying to make him feel better even if I had no clue what was going on or if it would really be okay. “Shhh, don’t be afraid. We’ll help you.”

“What is this?” Caius starts to panic as well, running after our son and trying to pick him up in his arms, failing miserably. “Please, Heelie, just stay still for one moment. If I can get you this will be much easier.”

“I’m sorry, daddy,” I hear him start to cry. I hated it when my precious baby cried. “I can’t.”

My son never did anything to go against us. He always listened and did exactly as we said, even if he didn’t want to. I knew that this had to be serious for him to not be doing as we tell him. Heelie especially listened to Caius and did what he said much faster.

Tears streaming down his face, I hear him crying as some unknown force drags him further and further away from us. I could hear his heart beating faster than the speed of light as he started to lose himself, almost floating in the air as he was dragged.  _ What the hell could be able to do this to my baby? What kind of magic is this? This doesn’t ever happen! Helios isn’t supposed to become a magnet after we feed! _

“Mamma,” he called out to me as we chased after him. Whatever was doing this was working fast, pulling him almost too fast even for us.  _ How can it move faster than a vampire? It’s going in one direction, but it just doesn’t make any sense? Is this some sort of gift? _

No answers came as I called back, “Don’t go too far, baby!”

My son didn’t answer as he continued to be pulled through the thick forest. My vision was sharp as I kept my eyes on my baby, making sure that he stayed in my eyesight at all times. I couldn’t have him taken away from me. He was supposed to be  _ safe _ and right now he was anything  _ but _ that.  _ Right now would be a great time for an explanation! _

Maeve didn’t answer me right away, letting me try to find out whatever the hell was going on with my baby boy as he got farther from us. It took until the sun was about to come up for her to give me any sorts of hints.  **_This is new. Honestly best use of a gift I’ve ever seen._ ** _ So this is a gift?!  _ **_Very much so. I think you’ll like where this is going, Anna. It isn’t as bad as it looks._ ** _ It looks pretty fucking bad!  _ **_Just give them a chance to explain themselves!_ **

Knowing that  _ someone _ was doing this to my own  _ son _ filled my veins with fire, angering me beyond belief. Nobody, absolutely  _ nobody _ , had the right to do this to my baby. He was just that,  _ my baby _ , and he would be treated better than this! No human or vampire with a gift would be allowed to treat Helios like this!  _ Whoever this is, Maeve, they’re going to die when I get my hands on them. _

I heard Maeve let out an awkward cough in my head as she stalled for time with her own humming.  _ What? Are you going to stop me? Oh wait, you can’t stop me from killing the damn thing that is dragging my son through the fucking woods, Maeve.  _ **_It would be extremely unwise to kill the person doing this, Anna. I promise that all will be explained once you meet them._ **

Meeting the one responsible for my son’s upset was on the top of my mind, but giving them any mercy was not. While I had mercy for many, anyone who messed with my family in such an upsetting way did not get to live. Not if I had any say in it.

“I smell blood,” Marcus hisses, “What the hell is all of this blood doing around here?”

“People die, you idiot,” Caius growls, keeping a steady pace, “Mauled by a bear or whatever. We have more pressing matters.”

“It’s  _ a lot _ of blood,” my mate repeats, causing his soul brother to groan and move even faster.

“Mamma it feels weird,” Heelie whimpers, “It feels really weird.”

“It’s okay baby,” I say, “Just let us get to you. I doubt that you will be moving for much longer. We can go home and we can have some ice cream to cheer you up. I promise everything is going to be okay.”

My son simply whimpered again. He screamed in terror as he stopped in his tracks, falling to the forest floor. I growled, finally able to make my way over to him, not minding what was going on around me. The only thing that mattered was my son and if he was okay.

“Heelie!” Caius grabbed him and tucked him under his coat, making sure that he wouldn’t be able to move away from us again. “You scared the living daylights out of your old man, you know that?”

“I’m sorry, daddy,” he apologizes, snuggling into his chest.

“Caius,” Marcus whispers, eyes turning black. “Something is very wrong.”

“What do you mean  _ something is very wrong _ ? Obviously something is wrong if our son was being dragged through the woods!” my blonde mate exclaims before taking a sniff of the air. “Oh my god...there’s blood.”

Taking a sniff myself, I have to take in a deep breath at the smell. I still wasn’t good to be around human blood, especially in this potency. It was  _ everywhere. _ All of my senses pointed me towards the forest floor, where I saw one of the most disturbing scenes in my life.

Helios and my mates had stopped in front of a horror scene: one very much dead woman lying in her own blood, ripped clothing all around, and a single newborn baby staring at us in the snow.


	11. Hybrid Babies and the Volturi

The baby in the middle of the snow let out a giggle as it tried to crawl towards my son.  _ What is this? How did this woman...this baby? _

Helios ran towards them, picking them up in his arms and made sure that they were alright. Marcus took a step back as his eyes glazed over, supposedly checking whatever bond was connecting them.

“A child,” Caius whispered, looking at the baby and our son, who was fawning over that same child like he was its mother. “Good lord, someone gave birth in the middle of the forest. In the middle of winter. Heelie, let us see-”

“No!” Our son shouted, keeping the baby to himself. “Don’t hurt her!”

“We aren’t going to hurt her, Heelie, just let us see your mate,” Marcus tried to placate our son, who wasn’t having any of it, keeping the young child wrapped in his coat. The sudden realization of what my mate had actually said about the child hit me when Aro took a step in their direction and Helios let out a feral screech in defiance. Our son wasn’t  _ defiant _ and never had been. This behavior was completely alien to his usual easy going nature.

“Son, I am not going to hurt her or try and take her from you,” Aro’s voice sounded almost like a plea to just see the child before our son got even hissier with her. “Her heartbeat is like yours. A hybrid child.”

“Baby,” I croon out, trying to not get too close to either of them, “It’s okay. I know that your bond is strong, just let Mamma see the little one. She’s probably cold.”

“Mamma,” my son whined out, nuzzling his head into his mate’s small body. “She wanted to meet me, mamma, that’s why she pulled me.”

“I know, baby,” I nod in understanding, just wanting my son to come back to us. An overprotective mate was not uncommon, but he was young and likely didn’t know how to handle the bond like his parents did. Hell, I was at least 17 when I met my mates, he was only 6 months old. _ Just don’t be upset. Please don’t be upset, baby.  _ “Can I help you?”

Heelie reluctantly nodded, letting me move beside him and his newborn mate. I smiled at my son before removing the cloak from her face, now able to look into her bright green eyes. Turning to where her dead mother laid, I saw the resemblance instantly. She was a spitting image of the deceased woman, the same whitish hair and green eyes belonging to both.  _ Who knocked up a human? Who could have done this? How did she get out here in the woods when she looks so...gaunt? _

“She can’t be but twenty minutes old,” I realize, “How did she call out to you? She physically pulled you here but she couldn’t have had any knowledge of the bonds...unless…”

“Helios’ bonds were lighting up in a way I have never seen before,” Marcus explains. “It could be a gift. That would mean that either the mother had a chance at being gifted or the father was. Unfortunately Aro cannot....see who did this to her, as she is already passed on. The little one’s memories may hold more explanation.”

“Daddy,” Aro looked at our son as he called out to him, “Can you?”

“Of course, Heelie,” my mate says as he moves towards us. Taking a look at the little baby in our son’s arms, he places a pale hand on her cheek and allows his eyes to glaze over, revealing her memories. A mere seconds later he nods, kissing Helios’ head. “She is gifted. It seems that she was able to physically pull the bonds to force her mate to come to her. The extent of her gift remains unknown, but she was confused and pulled at the only live bond she had. Since her mother was already dead, she felt like she needed help and called our son.”

“So she can see the bonds like Marcus?” Caius questions, looking at the little blonde baby.  _ God, she’s so damn cute. Stop smiling like that, you’re making me less mad that you almost restarted my heart just to give me a heart attack. Damnit, I can’t be upset with a little hybrid child. Nobody can. You’re lucky you’re my son’s mate. _

“Yes,” Aro answers, eyes laced with curiosity as he looks at his son’s mate, who just smiled and giggled in her mate’s arms. She didn’t seem to have a care in the world as long as she was with our son, giggling like a maniac. “Cute little thing, isn’t she? I wonder what other bonds she has with other people. Marcus, have any new bonds formed?”

“Not yet. We are obviously not her soul family since she is our son’s soulmate,” my mate took a long pause before he looked into the forest. Loud rustling could be heard, a sign that someone or something was coming. “Just the Cullens and company, don’t worry.”

A few moments of waiting later and I could see Rose and Jasper, who were almost frantic in their stature. My soul brother and friend let out sighs of relief as they saw the six of us, although I didn’t think that they knew that it was six.

“Everyone has been looking  _ everywhere _ for you all!” Rose shouted, looking us up and down. “What have you all been doing? The sun is about to come up and-” she cuts herself off as the baby coos at her, “Is that a  _ baby _ ? A little  _ baby _ ? She’s so cute! How did you just find a baby? Babies should be with their mothers! Where is her mother?”

Helios awkwardly pointed to the dead woman on the ground and Rose laughed, just as awkward. My son looked at his mate and moved much closer to me, allowing me to be in close proximity to his mate.  _ Well, that’s a start. Just new bond protectiveness. _

“Well, the baby needs a name,” Aro says cheerily, “How about you name your mate, Heelie? May as well since the mother never got a chance to.”

Our son looks down at his mate and kisses her head lovingly. “Anora.”

“Anora,” Rose repeats, looking at my son’s mate from afar.  **_Well, since that woman is dead, I guess Rose can finally live her dream of being a mother. Soul relationships are just as good as biological ones. Actually, they’re better. Just make sure that Heelie doesn’t kill her the second that she tries to pick her up._ **

“Heelie, how about you let Rose have her soul daughter for a little bit,” my son looks at me as if I grew two head and shakes his own head, not willing to give up his mate. “Okay, but you have to let her have Anora for a bit once we get back to the house. You wouldn’t want for her to not have her new mamma, would you?”

“Fine,” he whines, moving away from all of us, his mate still with him. “We can go now.”

____________________________________________

Moving through the forest, we finally were able to make our way back to the group. Many of our covenmates were in a frenzy, checking us over to make sure nothing had happened to their leaders. Jane and Alec checked over Heelie the second they saw him. Afton followed suit, making sure that his soul brother was alright. 

We hadn’t been gone for very long, but the sun was on the verge of coming up and we were already supposed to be home.  **_Nobody has ever gotten lost during a hunt before and nobody has ever wandered too far, especially not the kings. The worst thing that happened was when Caius got attacked by a Child of the Moon almost 2000 years ago, which resulted in the coven killing off almost all of the Children of the Moon in the world. Kind of wish they had killed them all off, they suck._ **

“Calm down,” Aro tried to calm our coven, who were not willing to let us out of their sight and would hiss every time he tried to go ahead of them while we ran home. “I’m here and nothing is going to get me.”

“Don’t tempt karma,” Santiago muttered, holding Renata close to him.

“I’ll tempt karma all day,” Caius snarks, making sure that I stay right next to him. My blonde mate growls as he sees Carlisle come into view, coming much too close to his son for his liking. My soul father gives him a confused look before staring down at the baby in Heelie’s arms, taking in a deep breath. “You have a granddaughter-in-soul now, Carlisle, get used to it!”

My father gulps before heading back over to his own mate, not wanting to cause any trouble with his grandson. Renesmee looks at the baby from afar, wanting to get close but knowing that Helios wouldn’t like it.  _ Smart child. _

It took us about ten minutes to get back to the house, able to stay inside, away from the burning sun that could expose us.  _ Still the same, but we won’t be here for a long time. We have to find a place for little Anora to sleep. She can’t just continue to sleep on her mate. Do we even have a crib? Did Renesmee have a crib in this house that we could use for tonight? Or just the day. We may need to leave sooner since Anora hasn’t had anything to eat and we don’t have any baby formula. _

Opening the door, I allow the family inside. Jacob and Renesmee stayed outside, presumably to speak with my mates and I.

“Did you have a good hunt?” Marcus asks politely.

“Yeah, it was great. Found a few bears,” Jake turned to me as I made sure that Heelie got through the door safely. “I was wondering if you had any ideas of where we could go since Nessie doesn’t want to be anywhere near her parents. I don’t know if my pack would be willing to go to Italy but I don’t see any other options.”

“Italy would be the best option if you wanted to completely get rid of the Olympic Coven, but a place like Siberia or France would work as well. We know the leader of the French Coven and I bet she would be willing to let you two stay there. Alexandros may also be willing to give you safe passage into Greece,” Aro gives him a few options. We knew that Bella and Edward would likely be looking for Nessie now, waiting for the perfect chance to take her back into their care.

“Russia during the winter months is perfect for vampires, although it may get a bit cold for hybrids,” Caius informs. “If you get any whispers of a plan between your old Coven, just ask around the areas where Covens are located. Find allies and they will shield you while in their territory. Since you don’t eat live humans I doubt they’ll care that you want to be there.”

“Although places like Romania will never be safe for you. If any Romanians survived they will be there. We cannot help you while you are in that territory,” Marcus explains. “We think that we got rid of them all, but just like the Children of the Moon, we may be wrong.”

My blonde mate stiffened at the mention of the creatures that nearly killed him, hunching back into the door fearfully.  **_There’s like 5 left in the world, but those numbers may grow soon. I can’t read them as well, but a few of them may try and turn some more. Most of the vampire community do their part and kill them whenever they find out where they are._ ** _ Are there any in the area?  _ **_No. Gods no. I would be getting your ass out of here if there were Children of the Moon._ **

“As long as you stay in areas where the Volturi have influence, you will be safe. The Olympic Coven cannot harm you without cause,” Aro finishes, guiding the two of them through the door. “Not without cause.”


	12. Book Thief

Heading back home was most likely the calmest part of our trip. No incidents, no finding baby hybrid mates in the middle of a Canadian forest, and certainly no potential battles with former friends and allies alike. All in all, things were quite tranquil as Helios and Anora fell asleep lying right next to each other in their bed.

Although many would assume that allowing two mates to sleep next to each other would mean some sort of contact would be made, Heelie and Anora were as platonic as could be, with Marcus checking their bonds to make sure that nothing weird was going on.

Little Anora had proven herself to be much fussier than Heelie had ever been, often screaming whenever my son left the room or tried to hand her over to Rose, who could barely get her to stop crying when her mate had to do something or bring her food. The mated pair always had to be together, especially at night. Anora wouldn’t sleep otherwise and would just scream at everyone and even pull at her bonds to make people do what she wanted, often causing discomfort when she did so. Pulling at someone's very soul didn’t sound pleasant at all, the opposite actually.

“Grab her bottle and she should be fine,” Rose muttered to herself, grabbing one of the many blood filled baby bottles that she would constantly have to use to feed her child since Anora wasn’t taking it straight from the bag. “Honey please don’t cry, Mommy has food coming right now.”

“Telling her to stop crying isn’t going to help, babe,” Rose glared at her mate before handing her the blood, which she took happily. Sucking down most of the contents, the little hybrid smiled and giggled, sticking out her tongue. “Why does she do that?”

“Probably just a happy baby,” I say, picking her up in my arms, “Aren’t you a happy little baby?” Anora cooed in glee and wrapped her warm hand around my finger. “God you are the cutest little thing since Helios came around. Too bad you’ll grow up so fast. I want you small forever.”

Anora let out a loud coo as Heelie entered the room, carrying some of his school stuff. Rushing over to meet his mate, he kissed her head and took her out of my arms. Placing her down on one of her favorite yellow mats, he started in on his homework, working away as Anora cooed and played with some of her toys. She would stay quiet and happy as long as he was there to help her when she couldn’t quite figure out the baby blocks, something that caused her a lot of stress.

“Mamma, what’s the cubed root of 729?” My son asks, looking down at his homework.

“9. What level are you at? I was doing that only a few years ago,” He shrugs and continues on with his homework. “How is a 6 month old smarter than me? That isn’t fair.”

“It is what it is, Mamma.”

____________________________________________

_ Six months later _

Bringing the last bit of my son’s dessert to the table, I relished in what was going to be my last day as a newborn vampire. For the past three months I felt my hunger start to settle, but now I could barely feel it, only a ghost of the past. The sudden shock that I wasn’t going to be as powerful as before hit me before anything else. No longer would I have the power to demolish my enemies as I once could, now having to rely on strategy above all else.

These last few days felt like nothing I had ever felt before. My emotions were finally sorting themselves out, if that was even the best way to describe it. The euphoria while feeding was still there, but no longer was I a savage animal while eating my meals. Looking back at what I had been doing to get the most blood in my system, I really was an animal who had been starved. Not that I would have changed what I had done, but the feelings of hunger did overwhelm me.

Watching over Anora and Helios had become my main job when I wasn’t at trial, which didn’t seem like the worst way to spend my time. My son and his mate, who was the daughter of one of my closest friends, had their own air of light and happiness that surrounded them at all times, bringing those who had the pleasure of being in their midst to feel the same.

Anora had not stopped being obsessive and clingy towards her mate, even now that she looked and sounded about 8 years old. Her abilities had grown exponentially, now able to pull any one of the guards towards her during training. Since she had formed bonds with everyone, we were all at her mercy. It seemed that she could also pull the bonds of other people, often able to mess with those who annoyed her in this manner. Even as Marcus tried to tell her to stop, she would ignore him and continue on with this habit. My poor mate couldn’t do anything to actually stop her, as he could only see the bonds and not interact with them the way that she can.

“Child, please don’t do that!” I heard Marcus call out from the other side of the hallway. “What has poor Afton done to deserve his bonds pulled like that?”

“He stole my book,” she sassed back, flipping her hair and grabbing at what I assumed was their bond, or just one of his other bonds. “I told him to stop and he won’t stop, so now he’s gonna pay the price of his thievery! If you won’t deal with him don’t get mad at me for doing it myself!”

Marcus hissed under his breath and looked to see if Afton had been harmed by her aggressive tug. I heard Afton yelp from the courtyard and Anora giggle down the large corridor.

My mate shook his head and frowned at his daughter-in-soul, who never really did anything he told her to do. She was a free spirit and only actually listened and obeyed her parents and her mate, who she never would want to disappoint. Unfortunately Emmett had refrained from doing anything about some of her odd habits, meaning that she did whatever she pleased in the castle. Usually this wouldn’t be a problem, as Anora only harassed bonds when she was pushed too far.

“Even if Afton does annoy you sometimes you aren’t supposed to use your gift on people,” Anora groaned at the lecture and rolled her eyes, starting to make her way back to her and Helios’ very new and very shared mate room, one of which we were not allowed inside. “Dear child, that gift of yours is very invasive and could, at some point, cause us harm! You must learn how to control that temper of yours and not harass the bonds that tie us together.”

“Maybe you should be teaching your guards to be good people and not steal my stuff!” She shouted back, running off into her room. I sighed as I watched her leave. I understood why she had done it and why she continued to do things the way she did, but the power struggle between her and Marcus was becoming extreme. In many ways Anora was correct. Afton had been pushing her buttons and stealing her books in his way of joking with her, but Anora made it very clear that she hated when he would do stuff like that.

Marcus sighed, clearly not knowing what to do.  **_Anora is very upset with Afton and I think he needs to apologize. She’s a kid and doesn’t understand his sense of humor yet. Plus she has already told him to stop. I don’t know why he keeps on thinking that she’ll find it funny._ ** _ Believe me, Maeve, I don’t know either. She loves those books more than anything because Heelie gave them to her. I don’t think they’re scenting yet but they definitely remind her of him when he’s away.  _ **_Your son is getting annoyed now. You may want to stop this before it becomes a full blown fight with Afton. They’re soul brothers, but his mate bond will always be stronger than their sibling bond._ **

“Honey, can you check and see if Caius is able to finish up the trials for today? Aro as well,” my mate turned to face me down the hallway and nodded, walking away to find his brothers.  _ How did things end up like this? I don’t want any bad relationships in our coven but Afton has been taking it too far with Anora for a long time. I know I can’t take sides but…  _ **_No, I know. It’s difficult since Heelie is your son and Anora is his mate, but you can get through this. Helios will be angry that his father is going against his mate, but that can be easily mended with a healthy conversation. For Afton… he needs to apologize first. I think he’ll feel bad once he knows that he’s hurting Anora and Heelie but he won’t be able to figure it out unless someone tells him. You know how he is._ **

Clicking my tongue, I knock on my son’s door, hoping that he was also inside there with Anora. I wouldn't be able to get farther than the door frame, but being able to talk to them in any way would help diffuse the tension.

It was funny how they worked, being opposite sides of the same coin. Anora was constantly challenging authority, often breaking every single rule that she could without getting in too much trouble. Heelie almost always followed the rules, not breaking them unless something big was going on, always feeling bad when he did break his parents’ rules. They seemed to balance each other out, with Anora telling him when he needed to stand by his ideals and Heelie making sure that she knew when the rules needed to be followed.

Helios was the one to come to the door, looking annoyed at the world as he did so. His eyes brightened a bit when he saw that I was the one to make my way to his room, but the air of blistering hot anger was still prominent.

“What is it?” he mumbled, looking back to his mate, who I could see was curled up in their bed.

“I just wanted to make sure that you and Anora were okay, baby,” my son looks down at the ground as I speak, never maintaining eye contact with me. “Are you two doing okay? I heard what happened in the hall.”  
“Daddy never listens, even when Nora is right,” Heelie said. “If he would just get Afton in trouble _once_ for the way he behaves this would have never happened. Jane always uses her power on Afton once he gets annoying, so why can’t Nora? It makes no sense. Playing favorites, I’m telling you.”

“I don’t think it’s playing favorites per se, but your father is able to see some of the things that can happen to bonds when Anora messes with them. He’s the only one besides Daddy Aro that can, which may explain why he’s harder on Anora than anyone else when it comes to using gifts. Now, I’m not saying that what Afton is doing isn’t worthy of bond pulling or imaginary pain, but understand that your father always has a reason for the way that he conducts himself and the coven. He always wants what is best for you and Anora and he always will, even if he gets things wrong sometimes,” my son nodded before looking back to Anora again, who nodded and let me inside their little den.

The room that had been given to them held so many different shades of yellow that it was hard to keep up. The color had become their obvious favorite, with the entire room being stained custard months prior. All of the sheets and pillows had the same color pattern. One would assume that a Hufflepuff lived in this room, which was halfway true. Anora was most definitely a Gryffindor, with bravery and recklessness sometimes defining her behavior above all else.

“Don’t be angry with your daddy. He never wanted to hurt you or Anora,” Heelie huffed and found himself next to Anora, running his hands through her long blonde hair. “We can talk this out and get everything fixed up between you and Afton as well. Brothers shouldn’t be fighting for extended periods of time. We all love you two and want you to be happy.”

“Can you stop Afton from taking my books?” I nod.

“If he takes another book from you, come and tell me so I can make him clean everything in this castle every night for three months. That should straighten him out.”


	13. Loss

Anora’s POV

It wasn’t like I wanted to make everyone angry, it was just what I managed to do. While I could have blamed my fiery temper on Afton and his ridiculous antics, I knew well that I was my fault for reacting to his attacks.

Being reactive was just so easy for me. I noticed everything that he did and he would just act like it was nothing. Maybe it was nothing to him, but it meant something to me. Those books were given to me by my mate. How would he like it if I took all of Chelsea’s gifts away? Plus, even she isn’t trying to stop him! Even if they are mates, he’s being an ass!

Getting up off my bed, I walk with Auntie Anna and Heelie down the hall and into the guard room where we could see Afton looking annoyed at the world. Auntie gave him a good glare before saying, “Son get your ass over here.”

Afton looked a bit terrified as his mother called him over, giving him a good glare of her own that outmatched mine. Only a mother could give that kind of dead stare that could scare the living hell out of you.

Some of the guards snickered, including his soul brother Santiago. Jane gave me a knowing sadistic smile and Alec did the same, although he did give Heelie a much kinder smile once he turned to him. My mate stayed quiet and waited for Afton to come closer to us so his mom could lead us all out of the guard room.

By the time that we did make it out of that room, I could feel the anxiety dripping off of Afton and Heelie through our bonds. Both of them were terrified of what was to come, but Afton’s fear outweighed my mate’s. This is what happens when you mess with a princess, Afton.

“We have a lot to talk about,” Auntie Anna said, looking unimpressed. “Afton, I just want to let you know now that I am not happy that you’ve been taking Anora’s books, if it was a joke or not doesn’t matter. Anora loves the books that Heelie gets her and mate gifts are special anyways. If someone were to take away things that Chelsea gave you I know you would be throwing a fit and ripping their heads off. Due to that, I am not mad that Anora pulled at your bonds the way she did, as you did deserve it for your behavior. That discomfort is your punishment. Have I made myself clear?”

The brown-haired vampire gulped down some venom before nodding quietly.

“What you did was wrong and you know it. I get that you meant it all in good fun but know that once someone tells you that they don’t find it funny you don’t do it again. It makes you look like an ass,” I could sense the pure annoyance in Auntie’s voice as she spoke to her son. She wasn’t a woman to mess with and she wouldn’t raise an asshole, not if she had any say in the matter.

“I’m sorry mom,” Anna was still not pleased, shaking her head at him. “I’m sorry, Anora. I shouldn’t have taken your books and I won’t do it again.”

"Good, now hug it out because I hate it when you all fight," I smiled and hugged him, willing to forgive him if he was really sorry for what he had done. It wasn't like we hadn't gotten into fights before. Sometimes those fights were much worse than this one, with one of us blowing up at each other and starting some really, really bad stuff. It was better to get along with your covenmates than to not, especially when your auntie wants you to.

"Come on, Nora, we have more training to do with you," still smiling, Heelie takes my hand and leads me into the training room.

It was good when things went your way.

____________________________________________

_ Three years later _

Anna's POV

Life had gotten much easier. No longer did I have the hunger of a newborn, or the strength of one. I was in fact quite normal and less special than I had been, but that was okay.

Things were great inside of the castle. No large fights had broken out between our covenmates or between other covens. The Romanians had been killed three years ago, on that new years day. 2010 wasn't as bad as I would have expected.

I still looked seventeen, just as was expected from a vampire who couldn't age. Helios and Anora looked to be about thirteen now, with their aging now slowing down. It almost seemed as if they had not aged this past year.

"Amore, what are you doing out here?" I turned around to see my blonde mate, who had turned up behind me as I walked through the gardens. "We should be getting ready for the party. You know how our son gets on his birthday."

"And yet he's only three," I muse, remembering my motherly responsibilities, "God he's aged so fast. Nora as well. I... I can't believe that they'll be fully grown by the time they're seven. I would do anything to have them as babies for a little while longer."

"Anna," he whispered, moving behind me as I gazed into my favorite pond. "Is everything alright, cara mia? You've been a bit distant lately."

"Oh, sorry. I guess I have been a little trapped in my own thoughts these days," I chuckled, turning to face my handsome mate, "I'll do better, I promise."

"That isn't the problem, cara mia, I don't want you to  _ do better.  _ I wan't you to be  _ okay _ and  _ happy _ ," I sighed, knowing where he was going with this conversation. We had this one almost once a month, mostly when we had some sort of social event to attend. I was not a very sociable person, even with my own family. Being like that would never be a part of my nature. "I know we have asked you many times, but as your mates we just want you to be happy and well. Being a queen can be hard and we're here for you."

"Look, we can talk about this after the party. As you said, we need to get ready," It was an awful feeling, having to direct the conversation elsewhere, but I wasn't ready to spill what had been bugging me yet.

Caius sighed but nodded, not pressing me further. He was good like that. He pushed me when I needed to be pushed, but also knew when to stop. We balanced each other out just like any good mated pair would.

My dress for the ball was similar to the one that brought me into the Volturi coven. Layered with hints of gold covered up with royal purple, my dress screamed royalty. Ever since I had gotten here my mates spoiled me rotten, buying me multiple dresses that I could wear for the rest of eternity if I didn't ruin them.

With a golden tiara on my head, I finally made my way down the hall, Caius holding onto my arm.

Our ballroom had become one of the most important places in the castle during my time. Yearly balls were now held, sometimes even occurring a few months after each other. Vampire life was now one of luxury. The Volturi were no longer feared, but rather revered, although some still held some panic whenever they saw our wax seal.

"Mamma!" Heelie called out, wrapping his arms around me. " _ Finally _ . You and dad took so long to get here. Everyone else is already here. Nahuel even came!"

Prince Helios Volturi had become a social butterfly, chatting up whoever he could, whenever he could. My son was growing to become a handsome young man, his black hair having soft curls that entranced Anora to no end. The two of them were an amazing couple.

"Amore," my son called out across the ballroom. I watched as Anora smiled from across the room, starting to walk over with the cookies she had taken for herself. "God she looks beautiful."

"Take your mate to dance, son," Caius smirked, taking my hand, "I'll dance with mine."

Giggling, Caius brought me to the dance floor. My heels clicked as we danced to the music. Thankfully Helios hadn't completely broken Volturi code for parties and had allowed Aro to pick out some of the music that we would dance to. It seemed that Helios had a taste for pop and rock, sometimes both. His mate liked the same, but preferred the same music as my raven-haired mate.

We danced for hours, never tiring. Vampire stamina had proven its uses, even if I had to give up things I used to love like sleeping and resting during my free time.

"You look bellissima, mia regina," Caius complimented, a hand brushing my cheek and we moved away from the dance floor, "Assolutamente divino."

"Always the flirt," I muttered, making him chuckle.

"Simply the truth, mia divina regina," If I were still a human, I would have blushed at his tempting words. "Let's go find my brothers. I felt them staring about ten minutes ago. You know how Aro gets with his jealousy."

"You two are always trying to one up each other. Poor Marcus," he laughed.

"He isn't as innocent as you make him out to be. You forget all of the walls he breaks during our  _ fun _ ," I slapped his hand. "Don't be mean to me, Anna."

"This is our son's  _ birthday party _ . Talking about our sex lives won't do you any good," he frowned, kissing my head. "Aro, take me away from the heathen."

"Now what has he been doing this time, il mio amore?" Aro asks, placing a kiss to my hand, "Truly a heathen."

"Everyone's ganging up on  _ me _ now?" Caius huffed. "You're all going to regret how you've treated me tonight. I do everything for this mate bond and you-"

"Don't be so  _ dramatic _ ," Marcus groans, "It's getting late and our son and his mate should be getting into their bed for the night. What an age, three. I don't even remember being three. Remember thirteen. What a year. I think Alexandros fell off a few trees with us, Aro. It was unpleasant to carry him whenever he decided to be more of an idiot than usual."

"Good thing he isn't here to throw you into a wall for saying that," Aro muttered.

"Like he would try to throw his king," Marcus paused before sighing, "He would throw me into a wall, wouldn't he? Oh, whatever, that's fine. Its not like I'm a vampire and can't be harmed by something as miniscule as a wall. I mean, I've had enough experience with walls-"

"What is it with you three today?" I questioned, sighing exasperatedly. "Truly, you three are acting so weird."

"Our mate thinks we're being weird," Caius whispered to Aro. I gasped as I realized that the three of them smelled a bit different than usual. "Am I weird, Aro?"

"You three, get your butts back into our room and stay there until you sober up," all three of them groaned. "Didn't think I would notice? You smell weird, you're acting weird, and everyone is talking about sex. Come on, this is a birthday party, set an example."'

"Why did you have to  _ out _ us like that?" Aro asked, kissing my head, "Let us have our fun."

"Outing you means something different in this century, Aro," my mate stiffened, "Usually you're so good about keeping with the times, babe, what happened? Oh wait, alcohol happened. I love you,but you three have to stop drinking at the most random of times."

I didn't let any of them speak, taking them back to our nest at once.

____________________________________________

The next day was filled with questions posed by our covenmates. Just the usual things. The Volturi always had things that needed to be done, with most of our time being spent dealing with criminals. Things had become quite stagnant, barely ever leaving the castle. It wasn't too bad, with some of our trips being memorable, but we never truly did anything new.

"Anna what's wrong?" This time it was Marcus to ask me. "We just want to know what's been going on with you. Aro can't piece it together for us all of the time. All we ever ask is honesty, you know that."

"It's been bugging me for a while," I admit, "It just doesn't make any sense."

"What's been bugging you, tesoro?"

Taking in a deep breath, I turn to face Marcus, a fake smile creeping it's way onto my face.

"It's about Maeve."

"What about her, tesoro?"

"She's gone."


	14. Petty Banter and Depression

I don't think I could have replicated Marcus' shocked expression.

"What do you mean  _ she's gone _ ? Gifts can't just leave a vampire out of the blue," he said rapidly, looking me up and down to see if I was okay. "That simply can't be true. Gifts are a part of a vampire, not just some fleeting-"

"She's not technically  _ gone _ , she just hasn't been saying anything. When I look at someone I just  _ know  _ instead of her telling me in my head. It's like she's been watching and not doing anything for over a month now and I don't know what I did wrong. I thought we were  _ friends _ ," My voice cracks at the memory of our old conversations. "I've been a vampire for three years now. It's been the same thing over and over again for three years. Why did she have to leave? I just want her to talk to me again."

"That's why you've been out here," he realizes, walking closer to me. "Tesoro, I'm so sorry. If we had known we could have tried to help you. I've never heard of a gift like yours, but it must have been caused by  _ something _ ."

"I don't know what it could have been caused by, Marcus. It doesn't make any sense," My mate embraced me, holding me close in his arms. "Three years and she's never been this distant with me. It feels like she's gone but she's still there, just watching from afar and letting me learn without her. It's awful. I hate it."

Heading back to our nest, I saw Aro and Caius playing a game of chess when we arrived inside, looking like they were about to break out into a fight over it. They both turned to me and put away the chess board, as they would be able to pick up where they had left off some other time.

"Cara mia," Caius crooned, making his way to where Marcus and I were. "You seem upset, mia regina. Please don't be upset."

Aro carefully made his way over to me, peppering kisses on my jawline. Once he had come up to kiss my head, his eyes glazed over, shifting through my thoughts and memories. When he came back, he let out a deep sigh. "Mia regina, perché non ce l'hai detto prima? Dobbiamo sapere cosa sta succedendo nella tua vita, il che significa anche il tuo dono."

"Mi dispiace, Aro, non volevo tenerlo nascosto. Tutta questa cosa è stata stressante e so che saresti preoccupato per questo. Prometto che non succederà più," I apologized, nuzzling myself into my king's neck. "Ti amo così tanto tesoro."

"Anche noi ti amiamo, mia regina."

____________________________________________

The rest of my week was spent worrying about every little thing that came to my mind. Was this too old? Maybe. Was I being too annoying? Perhaps. Did I know what I was doing even when I had been queen for the past three years? I doubt it.

All of my worries had come to me at once, never leaving me alone. Aro tried to make sure I was comfortable at all times, but physical comfort wasn't what I needed. I was emotionally uncomfortable, the worst sort of discomfort. I hated how I felt but I didn't know how to change it. It wasn't like vampires could go into therapy for their issues, we had to work everything out all by ourselves.

Even with my coven around me, I was becoming more and more isolated from everyone. I didn't want to talk, I just wanted to read or do things by myself. It got lonely. Being a vampire was getting lonely.

What had me confused was mostly the why. I had been abandoned so many times during my life, but this time I didn't expect it. She was there with me, chatting away, one day, and the next she basically just vanished into thin air.

I had done my fair share of reading over the books that had been created on vampires and their gifts and limitations. Nothing could tell me why my gift was acting up. Maeve didn't even seem like a gift, more like a literal person inside of my head. Aro had told me that she didn't seem like a split personality from the way my thoughts moved with her, so what was she?

Her general absence was not like any other. Before it was like she just wasn't there, like my mind was free of any visitors. Now, it felt like she was creeping up on me, ready to say something but never speaking at all.

It was likely the most horrific thing I'd ever felt.

"Amore," Aro whispered into my chest, clinging onto me like a young child in need of affection. "Don't stress yourself so much. I am sure that all of this will resolve itself soon. If you wish, we can leave the castle and take a vacation."

His suggestion was affirmed by a nuzzle from Caius, who had taken to wrapping himself in blankets and snuggling into my small body. The two of them were content laying on me, even if it meant they had to share for a while.

"We could take the kids on a trip to Greece," my mate suggested, kissing one of my shoulder blades lovingly. "You have never seen our homeland, nor have the hybrids. It would be a lovely time. Alexandros always allows us into his territory."

"You really want to go to Greece, don't you?" I giggled, slipping my fingers into his long hair. "Fine, we can go, just make sure that Marcus isn't left out of the loop. Poor baby shouldn't have any more surprises after the stunt you pulled with the bucket last year. I think he was terrified."

"Yes, that bucket of slime was a pretty fun prank," Caius said. "He and Carlisle are too easy to tease, don't you think, amore?"

"No. Teasing my handsome mate is not what I like to spend my time doing," my two kings sighed and continued to hold onto me like I was the most precious thing in the world. Hell, in their eyes I'm pretty sure I  _ am _ the most precious thing in the world. "Seriously, don't mess around with your brother. He loves you but he's sensitive to all of that."

"Sensitive," Aro huffed.

"Yes,  _ sensitive. _ Men can be sensitive too, you know? Be nice to him, you buffoons," Caius whined and pulled at my arm, tugging it down so he could hold onto it. "Caius, baby, what are you doing with my poor arm? What did my arm ever do to you?"

"It's comfy," was all he said, tossing a blanket over his head like a child.

"Ok well we have a trial in like ten minutes so I think you'll have to stop being comfy for an hour or two," both of my mates let out childish whines as I reminded them that we had trial in a few minutes. "Come on, get up, get up."

The two of them complied, finding themselves out of the bed, their hair messy. Aro walked over to the mirror in order to comb through his long hair. Caius did the same, using his own comb in order to fix up the disarray on his head.

Even when things weren't well, I put on a smile.

____________________________________________

Seconds after ripping off the head of another vampire that had crossed over into Volterra to feed, I realized just how many vampires I had killed. I mean, they were  _ criminals _ , but they were still  _ people _ .  _ Stupid morals. Why are you here? When have you ever hated me like this? I've been doing this for three years, this isn't my first kill. I hate this right now. Mind, leave me alone so I can go on with the rest of my life that isn't going to ever end. _

"Marcus," Aro turned to his brother, who was sitting with me on his throne. "Do you want to go to Greece?"

"What kind of question is that?" Marcus chuckled. "Have you already gone over this plan with Anna or are you and Caius scheming again?"

"I do not  _ scheme, _ " Aro insisted, "But technically both without the scheming."

"What do you think of going to Greece, tesoro?" Marcus asked, planting a kiss on the top of my head. "You always come first, la mia bella Anna."

"I think we all need some time away from this place. The last time we had a real vacation was when we locked ourselves up in the castle for six months to raise Helios," Marcus nodded, holding me securely in his arms. "I hate not being able to spend more time with Anora and Helios outside of the trials they interrupt on a regular basis. When will they barge in to ask us another question or beg for more cookies? I miss that. It was easier."

"Easier than spending time with us?" Marcus asked cheekily. I rolled my eyes and turned over, facing him. "You're awfully close to me, amore. I wouldn't want it to be hard for you, il mio tesoro."

Growling, I connected our lips. Marcus let out a growl and kissed me back, tugging at my hair. I heard my other two mates groan at the PDA before I moved away, smiling at my happy mate.  _ God he looks gorgeous at this angle. _

"Mamma-" I blinked a few times as I heard my son's voice. I turned my head to see a flustered son looking at me as I straddled his father on Marcus' throne. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything..."

Jane and Alec snickered from the doorway. The guards were pretty used to mated pairs bouncing on each other even in the presence of their covenmates, so Marcus and I... making out on the throne wasn't too uncommon. We didn't get too bad, but I bet the guards were a bit annoyed when Aro or Caius decided that they wanted to show me affection right after trials were done for the day.

"You didn't interrupt much, Heelie," Marcus gulped, a bit flustered over the situation as well. It was one thing for your guards to see you, it was another for your physically 13 year old son to watch as you make out with his mother. "Just an idea for going on a trip soon. You should help Nora pack. Maybe get her a gift while we're there."

My son blushed at the mention of his mate but nodded and sped off to somewhere else. Anora and he were so close. I was pretty sure they were already starting to crush on each other like teenagers would. It was odd that Anora aged quicker in the beginning in order to catch up with her mate, but it all works out in the end. They can be the same physically, even when Heelie is six months older chronologically.

"Well, that's that," Marcus tutted, pulling me into his chest. "When do you want us to leave, il mio amore? Honestly we could set everything up for us to leave in three days if you wanted. Jane and Alec can lead the trials."

"Lovely," I muttered, mentally exhausted and wanting more snuggle time with my mates since Heelie had more homework to do. "It's feeding day tomorrow. I'm getting hungry. Can I have a blood bag?"

"You can always have a blood bag, mio caro compagno," Marcus said, running his hands through my hair, which was almost down to my butt at this point. "Aro, can you get her one?"

My mate nodded before dashing off to the vampire side of the kitchens. With the humans still being a bit scared of us, my coven made sure to only make trips into the human areas of the castle when absolutely necessary. Now that I was a vampire all of our human staff were a bit afraid of me, even when I tried to tell them that I wouldn't take a bite out of them.

Things were getting a bit better in my life.


	15. Greek Gods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut warning

Bringing myself down from the loss of Maeve proved harder than I would have once thought. That absence from my life left a hole in my heart, one that was growing larger and larger by the day. As much as I wanted to believe that she was just on holiday and would be back soon, a part of my mind tore at the possibility that she would be gone forever.

Taking all but three days to get our ducks in a row, my family would be leaving for Greece. Where? I had no idea, Aro had been very cryptic about the whole adventure. Claiming that it would be good and that I shouldn't worry did nothing to ease the growing anxiety pooling in my mind.

Anxiety was something I dealt with on a daily basis back before I met my mates. God, it was a horrid feeling, and now it plagued me wherever I went. Torrents of negative thoughts flew into my mind and refused to leave, deciding to take personal residence in that pretty little head of mine. Was it pretty? Am I pretty?

I hated negativity, I really did, but I couldn’t help but feel so awful. No matter how much time my mates spent with me, it seemed that nothing was helping. Words of encouragement did not help. I wanted Maeve back, and I needed her. I felt worthless, powerless, and alone.

“Il mio amore.” Aro ran his hands through my long brown hair. I had decided to keep it long, having it now grown past my butt. “Are you going to get off the plane or will I have to carry you again?”

Mumbling incoherent words in various languages under my breath, I got up, rubbing my eyes. My raven-haired mate smiled, kissing the top of my head. Kissing his cheek, we left the private jet, which was our most commonly used form of transportation. The Volturi had so many vehicles that I couldn’t name them all in one sitting. Then again, I couldn’t stay still or sit for long. Ah, to have an overactive brain.

“We got a house by the beach,” Marcus informed, wrapping his arms around me, “I know you like the water. We can go swimming whenever you want.”

I hummed in response. My brown-haired mate frowned. Looking at him, I kissed his cheek next, hoping that it would make him happy. Unfortunately, he saw through my facade, sending me a worried look. “Tesoro, how are you feeling today? Did something happen?”

“I’m tired,” I said, forgetting that vampires can’t be physically tired.

“Anna… we’re worried about you,” Caius piped up, his usually stone cold face softening, “You know vampires cannot tire. What's been going on with you, cara mia?"

"I miss her." My mates knew who I was talking about. "I just miss her so much."

"Perhaps she is waiting for the right time to reappear. This could be for your benefit." I hissed at the notion. Aro sighed and took my hand, kissing it gently. "Well, my sweet Annalise, you may have to wait some more time. I know it has been hard, and we will stand by you during anything, but I hope that this trip will bring you some joy."

"Is our son staying with Anora?" Aro nodded. "Well, we should have some time to ourselves then."

Free time. Right. This was a vacation. I've never been on one of those, not to this extent. Five weeks of nothing but Greece and summer sun.

Perfect day for fun with mates, I guess.

____________________________________________

Marcus' POV

Coming down from the plane, I watched as my mate held onto Aro's arm for dear life. She just looked so sad. Not being able to make her happy burned my heart in ways I didn't know how to fix. I wanted nothing more than to make Anna happy, but she was heavily depressed after the loss of Maeve.

Her sweet smile has been missed. That toothy grin, her soft hands running through my hair, I missed it all. The Anna that I knew had regressed into an Anna that didn't know what to do with herself or her life.

The worst part was that her mates wanted her happiness, and would've put her before anything else in their lives.

Anna now spent most of her time trying to make sure our son was happy. I think he's been catching on to her sadness, that depression she's been hiding from him. Helios is a smart boy.

I would hate the day that our son realizes that his mother hasn't been truly happy.

"Marcus," Caius' voice cut off my thoughts, "How do we help her? The bonds-"

"Our bonds are still strong, Caius, but she is depressed. Much better than myself, but I fear she will get worse if we don't do something for her soon." Caius hissed under his breath. "Do you have the ring?"

"Obviously," his sassy voice rang through the area. I hoped that Anna did not hear us. "I would never forget that pretty thing. I really hope she says yes."

"We all do, Caius."

____________________________________________

Anna's POV

Hands trailed down the edge of my spine. Caius' sturdy fingers set my body on fire on any normal day, but today I was truly burning on the inside. Just the traces of his touch sent a hit of calm through our bond.

Equally cold fingers hit every spot on my back that set me alight. I turned around, sick of his relentless teasing. “You’re touching me.”

“Am I not your mate, cara mia?” He whispered huskily, now trailing my jawline. I sucked in a deep breath of air as he traced my neck. Pulling a near moan out of me, my mate smirked at what he could do to me. “Look at you, Anna, melting under my fingertips. That little quiver your lip does tells no lies, mia cara.”

“I…” trailing, I flexed my body up into his touch. He chuckled at my small response to his sensual touch. “Why do you do this to me, Caius? What have I done?”

“Been my beautiful mate,” he said, making his way above me. Kissing me with passion, I melted further, wrapping my arms around Caius’ neck. “The most beautiful woman in existence. Putting Aphrodite to shame every single day. How I’d worship you until the end of time, make you mine over and over again if you’d let me. My one true love.”

My heart fluttered at his words. Caius knew how to set me alight, how to make me weak at the knees. I would bend, but never break. The perfect match to my own innocence was his pure lust and drive. We could go at it for hours and still not be satisfied. Now, we have all the time in the world. Well, a few months of time to test our limits.

“Cara mia,  _ look at me _ ,” his commanding voice was still laced with love. He pulled my chin up, forcing me to gaze into his black eyes. “That’s it, baby, look at me while I touch you. Let me see your eyes as I make you come. Watch as I spread you open and  _ enjoy _ you for the goddess you are.”

His commands littered with affection only made more arousal pool at my nether regions. Caius’ hands slipped under my panties before he ripped them off, letting the sound ring throughout our bedroom. My mate smirked at the way he made me  _ flinch _ . A kinky bastard through and through, Caius Volturi, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Caius slapped the inside of my thigh, making me moan. A growl left him as I bucked my hips up, wanting him to give me more. A steady hand on my leg, my mate didn’t let me roll my hips up any longer, keeping me as still as he could with my strength. He slid a finger inside of me with his free hand, making loud moans spill free without any restraint on my part. This only seemed to fuel his growing desire, as Caius slid in two more fingers without warning.

“Mio re!” I called out for him, panting heavily as he hit me in just the right way. “Please,  _ please _ .”

“Aw, mia regina, what are you begging me for? Use your  _ words _ , Anna darling.” I snarled as his grin grew. That stupid smile of his made me want to smother him, but I was also so damn  _ horny _ . The way he could make me like this with a few simple touches…

I tried to come up with some snarky response, but the only thing that came out of my mouth was a stream of whines and moans. He still wouldn’t let my hips go, increasing my desperation. He wasn’t moving fast enough to build up my release, teasing me mercilessly. I craved more, yet I had given myself and my control to my loving mate, whose eyes were a pitch black, a sign of his growing arousal. He wouldn’t be able to hold onto himself for much longer. I would just have to wait out his torturous love.

The emptiness that came with the removal of his fingers was even worse than the lack of buildup. All I could do was choke out a sob as Caius removed my dress. A few cracks formed on my wrists as he pinned me down on the bed. My mate growled, taking off all of his clothes within a second.

“Look at me, mia regina,” he crooned, grabbing something from the night stand. My eyes widened as I realized what my mate had brought out. A single click and my wrists were cuffed to our comfortable bed, ceasing any chance at movement. Of course, I could break out of these things if I wanted to, but after what happened the last time I tried that... 

“Mio re,” my voice was low and teasing. If I couldn’t move, I could  _ tease. _ “Why don’t you  _ touch me _ , baby? Have I not been your  _ perfect  _ little mate? I’m so wet for you.”

His growls got louder as he started to spread my legs once more, slapping my ass in the process. “You’re a bad girl, Anna, using that tone with me, and bad girls get  _ punishments _ from their  _ king. _ ”

The small hitch in his tone turned me on further. My mate noticed this, uncuffed me, flipped me on my stomach, and cuffed me again. I whined at his incessant teasing, but cried out once a single hand slapped against my ass. The most common form of my  _ punishments. _

“Count for me, Principessa,” Caius ordered. I nodded.

His hand coming down on my ass brought venom to my eyes. It hurt so  _ good. _ “O-One.”

I could feel Caius’ smirk from behind as he brought another hand down. A single crack formed right above the place he slapped. “ _ Two. _ ”

My mate cracked his knuckles.  _ Three. _ “Three!”  _ Four. _ “F-Four.”  _ Five. _ “F- _ Caius _ !”

He tutted, grabbing a fistful of my long hair. It was definitely a good idea to grow it out. Now he could just  _ tug. _ “Cara, you know our  _ rules _ . Being a naughty girl today will be your undoing.” I gulped as I heard my mate grabbing his belt, which he had previously tossed somewhere in the room. “Now, I think that five will do. Can you take it, piccola?”

I nodded, but that wasn’t enough for him. “Verbally, amore.”

“Yes, I can take it mio re,” I answered, just as he told me to. A loud crack could be heard as the belt collided with my bare, pale ass. Tears formed in my eyes and arousal pooled in my core, the perfect duality. 

“Since you can’t seem to  _ control yourself _ , you have to shut that pretty little mouth of yours. If I hear even  _ one _ moan, hiss, or whine we’ll finally see a vampire pass out from exhaustion, and it won’t be me.” His threat forced me to shut my mouth and take it.

Even at the first whip of his belt I was nearly ready to give in to whatever punishment could leave me exhausted. I wanted to cry out, to beg him for more. My tongue left small cracks in my bottom lip, left unable to do anything other than bite my lip.

By the fourth whip I was on the verge of breaking, but I knew I could take more. Caius and I had done far more extreme things and I knew my own limits. A simple belt was nowhere near my limit.

“Ah, there’s five, baby,” Caius said as he kissed my cracked ass. “I think you’ve earned the right to see me as I fuck you open, don’t you think? Do you want to see me as I fuck you senseless?  _ Answer me, _ Anna.”

“Yes, yes I want to see you as you fuck me senseless,” I responded. Within seconds I could see my handsome mate’s face. His pitch black eyes focused on me before he wrapped his hands around my waist, pushing me down.

Caius groaned as he thrusted his hips into mine, sheathing himself into my entrance. I moaned. He wasted no time, picking up the pace. In no time he was pounding me into the bed, with the handcuffs he placed one me digging into my thin wrists. His large cock hit places I could never dream of hitting myself or with a toy, bringing me closer to my release.

I cried out as Caius hit my g-spot. He angled his thrusts to hit it every single time, knocking the wind out of me. That wonderful feeling of potential release hit, eliciting moans from my puffy lips.

“Mmm, look who's already about to come,” Caius teased, letting out a groan of his own. “You can come, mia regina.”

His permission was all that I needed, hitting my high with a cry of pleasure. Caius’ thrusts persisted, giving me no time to calm my overexerted nerves. My eyes rolled into the back of my head as he chuckled, cock still throbbing and moving inside of me.

My mate continued until I was on the brink once again. Burning coils of pleasure that were ready to snap took over my senses, making me unable to focus on anything other than my need for a release. With myself almost pained from the overstimulation, Caius started to get sloppy, not hitting my perfect spots every single time and rather once every few thrusts. His hips sputtered, on the edge of euphoria.

Caius came with a growl of my name, with my release following soon after. My mate uncuffed my wrists, but my arms just fell down, almost parylzed.

“You okay, Anna?” Caius asked, running a hand down my cheek.

“Mhm,” was all I managed, still dazed from overstimulation. My mate chuckled before plopping down next to me on our bed, nuzzling at my neck. He kissed my cheek before wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me under the blankets.

What a wonderful way to start a vacation. Too bad Aro and Marcus were getting blood bags from Alexandros. Oh, who am I kidding, Aro will see this when he gets back.


	16. Sandy Days

It took Aro and Marcus three hours to come back with bags of blood. When they came back, they found Caius and I purring, snuggled up with each other on our vacation bed. Aro seemed pleased, but I could tell Marcus was thinking  _ you left me out? _

“Looks like you two had a good time just based on the cracks,” Aro said in a cheery voice. “Do you think il nostro amore will be able to come down to the beach with us? Our son has requested a trip and Anora is going along with it.”

“Mmm, just let me get dressed,” I say as I strip the blankets off of me, revealing my naked form. My mates all took in a deep breath as I shimmied on over to the dresser, finding a swimsuit that I could wear for the trip down to the beach. “Does this one look nice? Not too much, is it?”

“You look perfect, tesoro,” Marcus complimented, kissing me on the forehead. “Shall I bring blood to the beach? Everything is uninhabited so we won’t get caught snacking.”

“That would be nice.” Aro smirked at the way I put on my top and walked over to my side, kissing at my neck. “We’re supposed to be going to the beach, amore.”

“Mmm but you look so nice in that swimsuit.” I rolled my eyes, pushing him off of me. Caius snickered, earning a glare from his raven-haired soul brother. Marcus simply grabbed some of our things and opened up the door. Aro grumbled something under his breath before taking out his phone. He sent a text to somebody, but I couldn’t see who it was since I myself was already halfway out the door that Marcus had so generously opened up for me.

Beaming all the way down to the beach, I noticed that our son had already found himself on the sandy shores, messing around with Anora, who threw a ball in his face.

“Nor! What did you do that for?” Helios exclaimed, grabbing the ball off the ground and throwing it back to her. Before he could say anything more, Aro whistled, alerting our son to our presence. “Dads! You finally got Mamma out of the room with Father Caius.”

“How many times have I asked you to  _ not _ call me father?” Caius questioned, looking unimpressed. “It makes me feel  _ old _ and you know how I feel about feeling  _ old _ all the time. Children these days, making their parents feel like old people.”

“You’re literally over 3000 years old.” Caius hissed, picking me up on his chest. I squealed, attempting to bat his hands off of me as they trailed down to my waist. “And now you’re harassing Mamma.”

Marcus and Aro chuckled at Caius’ handsiness, rushing over to greet our son, who pulled his mate close to his chest. Anora puffed out her cheeks in annoyance and pushed Heelie’s hands away from her face as he tried to kiss her head.  _ God they’re so cute. Why can’t my mates do that? Wait, they do, it’s just cuter since they’re physically 13 and I’m becoming an old hag. _

Anora and Helios were  _ very _ close. Being the only hybrids in the castle allowed them to spend as much time together as possible. To be frank, they do  _ everything _ together. Sleeping together (no not like that I swear they’re children. They can’t do that until they’re at least physically 15 or 16), eating at the same time, and doing chores together (that was Caius’ idea since they get into more trouble than any other child he’s ever seen. Has he seen many other children, I don’t know).

With them being so close and us knowing that they wouldn’t do anything too mischievous, we let them out on their own. We’re vampires, so if anyone were to try and kidnap them Helios could just pop their eyeballs out and take them as a midday snack. Anora as well, she has a mean streak when it comes to people messing with her precious mate. She’s the perfect girl for my son and the perfect daughter for Rosalie, who she loves very much. It makes me feel so much better knowing that the children could be out by themselves. Of course, motherly instincts kick in once the sun starts coming up.

“Pass me that ball, Nora!” I called out. Anora turned her head before passing the ball to me a bit roughly, nearly causing the ball to pop from the pressure of her throw. “Make sure to be careful with these things. I don’t want to exhaust the ball storage during the first week of our trip. We’re going to be here for at  _ least  _ a month.”

Nora stuck her tongue out at me before beginning to chase her mate across the beach. I sighed, not expecting anything less.  _ At least they’re getting their energy out before they have to go to bed. _

“What should we do, tesoro?” Marcus asked, now right in front of me. I wrapped my arms around him, snuggling into his chest. “There are so many possibilities and so much time. Greece is a beautiful place.”

“How come you haven’t taken me here before?” Marcus chuckled, pressing his lips to the top of my head. “I mean, come on, we’ve been together for nearly four years and you’ve never thought of taking me back to your homeland? Greece is a part of you! You aren’t even Italian, you bugger!” Marcus shushed me, picking me up in his arms. I blinked a few times before looking up into his big red eyes. “This isn’t a way to drop the conversation!”

“Look, she’s getting bratty again,” Aro tutts. “What have we said about brattiness, amore?”

“That it makes you want to screw me into the wall.” Aro sent me a half-hearted glare. “ _ Fine, _ that it makes you need to give me a punishment. Both are correct. Don’t deny it, Caius just screwed me into the bed.”

“The bed and the wall are two different places,” Marcus reminds me. Knowing that he was right, I pouted. My brown-haired mate ran a hand down my spine, making me melt into his embrace. “Do you want us to take you to the other side of the beach? It has the best sands. The kids will be running around for a few hours and they can just come grab us if they need something sorted out for them.”

He took my nod as a yes, rushing us over to the lower end of the beach. Down here the sands are pure white, with the rocks being a nice black color. It was pure beauty here. There really is no place like Greece.

Just resting on the towel, my mates took turns running around trying to catch each other while one of them ran their hands through my long, slightly curly brown hair. After my newborn stage my hair truly gained volume and curls, no longer strained by my constant need for blood.  _ As everyone says, a vampire looks prettiest when they’re full.  _

Pulling myself onto Marcus’ lap, I’m able to hear the birds chirping around us, almost ready to go to sleep. The sound of rushing waves crashing in overturned Aro and Caius’ bickering. I was sure that one of them had thrown the other into the waves, ruining someone’s hair. Marcus and I are lucky that someone hasn’t had a vampire meltdown over their appearance yet.

“I WASN’T THE ONE WHO HIT FIRST, YOU BASTARD!” Caius screamed at Aro, likely loud enough for the entire island to hear.  _ Thank goodness we have the island to ourselves. Poor humanity, having to exist on the same planet as these handsome drama kings. _ “ARO STOP IT! STOP THROWING YOUR STUPID SAND IN MY BLOODY HAIR!”

Taking a sip from my blood thermis, I watch the show in front of me. Marcus giggled at their antics, continuing to run his hands through my hair.

“THIS IS YOUR FAULT CAIUS! YOU THREW SAND SO I THREW HANDS!” I started to cackle at the show I was watching.  _ I swear I’m living with these men for the rest of my immortal life and I can’t complain. First class ticket to the best comedy play in all of history.  _ “TAKE THIS, YOU FERRET!”

“NOOOO!” Caius screamed as Aro pummeled him with sand. “YOU DAMNED ENDERMAN!”

“We shouldn’t have let him play that game,” Marcus mumbled. He turned his head away from my hair to scream back at his brothers, “CAIUS PLEASE DON’T CALL ARO NAMES IF THEY AREN’T GOING TO BE GOOD ONES!”

“I HATE YOU MARCUS!” Caius screamed in frustration.

“I LOVE YOU MARCUS!” Aro praised his brother for his contribution to his sand throwing cause.

“How did we end up with the two of them?” I asked my calm mate, who shrugged. “It’s like they’re immortal children with control over their bloodlust. Like five-year-olds fighting over who gets to say the last word. Kind of reminds me of two kittens swatting each other from underneath blankets.”

“Lovely visuals, Mamma.” I flinched as my son kissed me on the cheek, sitting down next to Marcus and I. “Nor and I could hear them from a mile away.  _ Literally. _ Do they do this inside your nest?”

“Obviously,” I deadpanned, getting up from Marcus’ lap. My mate frowned, reaching out to try and pull me back into his embrace. I scanned for my mates, only to find them harassing each other with fistfulls of sloppy wet sand. They were a long ways away, but I could still hear them arguing on the ethics of their fight. Aro claimed revenge, Caius claimed cruel and unusual punishment.  _ Sorry, darling, that only works when you’re in American. Just kidding, America doesn’t set good punishments either. For almost nobody, actually.  _ “SWEETIES COME BACK OVER HERE YOUR SON IS HERE TO SAY HELLO!”

“I am not-” Heelie tried to retract what I said to his fathers, but he was unsuccessful.

Instantly the two of them came running back to where Marcus and I had been previously laying. My mates were caked in layers of dirt, salty sea water, and sand. Just sand. Caius’ hair volume was now just sand. Density? Sand. His mouth? Probably sand as well.

I pushed Aro away as he tried to kiss me. He whined at me, putting on his best pouty face.

“No sandy kisses for me.” He growled, turning to see our son.

“None for me either,” Heelie said quickly. Aro grinned, picking him up and throwing him in the sand. “DAD!”

“Become one with the sand, child, it is your friend,” Aro ordered, lazily pointing his finger at Helios. “Be my sandy child. You have a sandy father so you shall be a sandy child. Anora-”

“Throw me in sand and I will boop your bonds,” Anora threatened, not liking the idea of joining her mate in the soft white sand. “Heelie has already ruined my bathing suit with sand. And my  _ hair. _ I’m so glad I didn’t bring shoes. He could have ruined my new shoes!”

I looked between Helios and Aro, who were both sporting the same cheeky grin. “Don’t even think about ruining my stuff. I will make this place rain hellfire if you mess up my hair with  _ sand. _ Consider me Anakin Skywalker.”

“He wouldn’t step foot in sand,” Caius said dramatically. “Plus you wouldn’t turn to the dark side over potentially losing your wife. You don’t even have a wife. Nope. Marcus, hand me blood. I’m so hungry. I haven’t eaten anything since we got here and I need a snack.”

“Won’t even ask nicely,” Marcus grumbled out, handing his brother the bag of blood. “Heelie, Anora, are you getting hungry? They’re fresh out from the blood bank. I have your favorites.”

“Yes, yes, I want O+. Give me O+,” Heelie ordered, eyes growing dark at the mention of his favorite blood type. He thought it tasted similar to chocolate. It was much healthier for him than  _ chocolate _ , so we let him have it regularly.

“What’s the magic word?” Marcus pressed.

“Abracadabra,” he deadpanned. I let out a snort.

“That will have to do for now… Just take your blood, you needy child.”


	17. New Souls and Reappearing Voices

Maeve’s POV

It was the dead of night when I slipped myself out of Anna’s mind. Finally able to have some peace and quiet after weeks upon weeks of worry and suffrage on my part.  _ And yet absence is the only way to save my dear Anna. Who would have guessed. _

Passing through the gateway once more, I am met with familiar faces. Dear Didyme was finally joining us today, it seemed, and she brought Arcadia and Calliope with her.

“You’re late,” Arcadia snapped.

“Like always,” I quipped, running a hand through my brown hair. “Do you have it?”

“Obviously.” My daughter’s nose flared as she handed me the object I required. “Will this really work?”

“Maybe, maybe not.” They all frowned. “I won’t lie to you.”

“We know,” Didyme said, looking down at the misty ground below. “You’ve never lied to us before.”

“And I don’t plan to anytime soon,” I added. “I’ll take this to her and see if my suspicions were correct. Years of research and collection of knowledge has led us to this fateful point. Everything is on the line, do you understand?”

“History made and history kept.”

____________________________________________

Anna’s POV

Hanging up the wet towel I’d previously used to dry myself off, I notice the small shift in my mind. Maeve’s presence was with me once again, lurking like some stalker in my mind. I suspect that’s what she’s become. No longer speaking, simply listening. We’d switched roles during the past few months. I hope my ramblings amuse her.

Aro stood at my side, running a hand through my half-dried hair. I’d forced everyone to take a shower after our trip down to the beach. There was no way I would risk having sand in the bed tonight. No, that would be awful. Terrible. Horrific. Sand should be on the beach, not in my comfy vacation bed. Even if I don’t sleep the idea sends shivers down my spine.  _ Who even likes sand anyways? It gets absolutely everywhere. Greece sure does have a lot of it. I wonder how they keep the beaches here so nice. _

**_It wasn’t always so difficult. Humans and climate change. You know how they are._ **

I took in a deep breath. Aro hummed in confusion, kissing the top of my head.

“You fucking bitch,” I seethed in anger.

“Pardon?” Aro questioned.

“No, not  _ you _ honey.” My mate looked relieved to know that I hadn’t called him a bitch. “Just- Gimme a moment to conduct my response.”

**_You realize I can hear you, Anna._ ** _ You little bitch. You little fucking bitch. You show up out of the blue and all you have to say is Humans and climate change? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN? I’VE BEEN WORRIED SICK YOU DUMB BEING INSIDE MY HEAD.  _ **_Nice to know I’m still loved._ ** _ If I could kill you, I would.  _ **_Mhm._ **

I wasn’t kidding when I said I would have killed her if she weren’t a voice inside my head. Lord, does she think I’m just some random vampire she can fuck with? Worried sick for months and the first thing she talks about is climate change.  _ I think I should get you a human body just to kill you. _

**_That could be arranged, dear Anna. Now, I have some exciting information that I should share with you before I finish my ultimate project_ ** **.** _ Ultimate…. What?  _ **_Project. You know, the things you work on for a long time and eventually get paired up with other people you don’t particularly like to complete them? I’m doing one of those right now. My partners demanded more of my time so I couldn’t come and see you. Just busy, don’t worry. Hope I didn’t stress you too much._ **

Maybe it wasn’t Maeve’s ‘partners’ that were the unlikable ones. Perhaps it was just  _ her. _

_ You can’t just leave for months on end with no warning or explanation. I thought that I was crazy enough for having a voice in my head, let alone a voice that leaves randomly and- _

What I wasn’t expecting was for a higher pitch voice to cut me off.  **_Sorry for mother’s absence, we’ve been busy trying to fix what we broke. Although it was mother who broke it in the first place. She should apologize for the inconvenience._ **

**_Calliope what have I said about trying to contact the queen!? I’m sorry for my daughter’s rude entrance. I swear I was going to introduce you two sometime. You know how things get. Busy bees have to tend to the hive!_ **

Sometimes I actually think she’s trying to kill me. Can shock kill a vampire? Well, Maeve here sure wants to find out.  _ Sometimes I want to kill you. Can I kill you? _

I was met with two different answers:

**_Yes._** **_Not again._**

It was what Maeve said that baffled me.  _ Again? Are you daft? You don’t just die twice. Unless… Wait a minute…  _ **_Are you mental, Calliope? She’s not supposed to find out until AFTER I put the stone into her memory! She could run away! She could jump off a cliff and tell me in person what an awful friend I am!_ ** **_You don’t have friends._ ** **_Of course I have bloody friends child! Are you not a part of my coven of FRIENDS?_ ** **_A coven? Never heard of that._ ** **_I’ll kill you someday._ **

“Is everything alright, il mio amore?” Aro asked, nipping my neck with his venom-coated teeth. “You seem to be in deep focus. Or shock.”

“Shock. Definitely shock,” was all I could say. _You have a coven. A_ ** _coven._** _You’re a vampire and you never told me._ ** _Shit shit shit shit she’s figured me out. Calliope I swear I’ll get the sándalon when we get back-_** ** _Please don’t get the sándalon-_** ** _Mental image of the sándalon already in my mind. Accept your fate. The sándalon is your fate._** _Whatever the sándalon is I’ll be using it to whoop your ass, Maeve._

“What is shocking, amore?” I shook my head, giving him my hand. Even if he couldn’t hear Maeve or this Calliope person, he could hear what I’d said to them. Aro’s eyes glazed over as he shifted through my most recent thoughts and memories. My mate had to take a step back after witnessing what I’d experienced as if it was he who’d talked to Maeve. “I can’t believe this. A  _ vampire, _ il mio amore? How does a vampire have such a gift? To live inside of another’s mind. Did she get trapped?”

**_Bold of him to assume I’d trap myself in Anna. I’m not trapped. I can get out whenever I please, Mister maniacal giggle._** _Fuck you._ ** _Time and place, bitch._** _Wait but am I gifted?_ ** _That’s what you care about?_** _Did I stutter?_ ** _Well then…. Yes, you’re gifted, but I myself am not your gift. Yes I am knowledgeable and share that knowledge, but a person inside of your head cannot be a gift for a vampire. I have to say, you’re more talented than that._**

“She says that she’s not trapped and that I’m a gifted vampire.” Aro nodded, listening in. “I don’t know what she’s on about but I assume she’s going to be a stubborn bitch and make me figure it out on my own. Oh yeah, there’s two voices now. Calliope and Maeve. Calliope claims to be her daughter.”

**_She pushed me out._ ** **_Sometimes I wish I hadn’t. I should have kept you inside to keep tabs on what you say to my vampire queen._ ** **_That’s weird._ ** **_So are you._ **

“If you thought Maeve was chaotic with me…” I trailed, putting a new towel over my naked body. “You still can’t hear them, can you?”

**_NOBODY LIKES A CREEPER!_ ** **_Mother-_ **

“Alas, I cannot, but I know that she’s a fickle. These… developments… they could help us in the future. Multiple voices. I never thought I’d see the day.”

**_I’m not a fickle!_ ** **_Yes you are._ ** **_Stop going against me, child! My own flesh and venom. How could you betray me like this._ ** **_You’re a fickle. FICKLE. That’s what you are, mother. Fickle fickle fickle-_ ** **_STOP SAYING THE WORD!_ **

“I wish I hadn't seen the day. Ooh, can you pass me my hairbrush?”


	18. Sunsets and Secrets

This sunset was special. Not because I got to spend it with Anora and my son wrapped up in my arms or because I'd managed to wrangle Caius out of the spa a few hours earlier than he would have liked. No, this day, this morning is special because after months on end of no answers from Maeve I have her back in my mind. Her absence was the cause of my depression and now that she's here, with her _daughter_ (don't know how that happens or the main reason why that girl is here but as long as she doesn't drag Maeve away from me into what more is inside my mind I'm okay with her.)

Watching the sunset with my mates is always a good time. They often find themselves in an argument by the end, but it's the effort that counts with those three.

Finding them anywhere around the island has been hard these days. Over the past week all of them have been shuffling off to do something together. When asked they deflect and deflect until I leave them alone about the matter. It's... frustrating to say the least. There's never a time where I don't trust them but I would like to know what they're doing sometimes or if I can be of assistance. Of course when I ask Aro he just gives me a look and asks me about my day. It just doesn't work anymore.

Now it seems that Heelie has joined them in their travels, although Anora seems just as confused as I am in where they're going. She's far more anxious than I am about her mate being somewhere she can't find, however. Not using her gift level anxious, but anxious enough that she needed to take a nap in my arms while we watched TV.

Beyond those moments, I allowed these sunsets to bring us peace amidst our chaos. Being a vampire has its ups and downs, but at least we have each other. Mates and soul children mean everything to covens, and it's a shame that some don't have that kind of comfort. People like Isabella Masen, who refuse to see common sense when faced with an issue regarding her biological child. It's just... sad. She's sad. She's a sad woman who has no idea what she's gotten herself into. Renesmee wasn't even her soul child, which must mean that she wasn't fit for children in the first place. Aro said the statistic was 80%-90% of all parents are their child's main soul parent these days and the rest are abusive assholes. His words, not mine.

Running my hand through Caius' recently cut hair, I watch the sun come down on the hill. Purples and pinks mixed with vibrant oranges and yellow mixed together to make a glorious picture that I'll be able to remember for the rest of eternity. Such sweet smells come from the air at this time of night. Vampire senses, of course, but the change is even present to some select humans who know how to appreciate the growing night sky.

"Mama?" Helios asked from beside me. I raised an eyebrow. "Can Nora and I walk back to the house? We're tired." "Of course, sweetie."

He sent me a winning smile and ran off into the night, his blonde mate running after him. They've always been such a sweet couple, able to work with each other for the betterment of our coven. During these years I've learned that Helios will do _anything_ to keep his sweet mate happy. Anora does, no matter how sweet she can be, have her own way of being. She doesn't like to talk much and only goes out when she has to. Or when Heelie begs her for long enough. Nora reminds me so much of Rose that its scary, although Nora doesn't like in-person shopping and prefers to get everything online.

I was taken out of my head by a chuckle. Turning my head, I saw Marcus fiddling around with his phone. Those three and their phones, I swear. It's like we can't have a normal night without them. I should be blaming Afton and Jane for that one though, they were the first ones out of the coven to beg for smartphones. Now everyone has them and plays flappy bird and other games during their free time.

"Having some fun with that, are you?" I tease, making him stare at me. Caught red-handed and he knows it. "It's not an issue, Marcus, I just would like for you to make sure you don't log so much time on that thing while we're on vacation in _your home country._ "

Lord knows how much time everyone spends on their phones, but by far Marcus has been the worst. Whenever I see the name of the contact on his phone it's always Aro, Caius, or Helios, so what gives? I guess I'll just have to deal with whatever they're trying to plan or do without me. Gifts are nice and... is there a holiday coming up? I could have sworn just a little bit ago it was Heelie's third birthday. A few months before _my_ birthday but we don't plan for that until the month of and even then they always include me in on that. No surprise parties over here, we always remember things. So what in whatever God's out there's name are they trying to plan? With Heelie, no less. What is my own _son_ sneaking off to plan with his fathers. Weird bunch that I've been blessed with for sure.

"Μέλι, I promise that I'll spend more time off of my phone in the future." And here comes the wonderful sound of victory because Marcus is a sweetheart and knows when I won't stop bugging him about something. "Although I should warn you that it was our son who I was texting and he had some important things to say."

"Oooh," I giggled as the sun completely set around us. "Is this a sort of _keep-it-a-secret_ thing or are you open to sharing?"

Just like always, he laughed at my antics but nodded. "So some context: Anora is hungry." _That's a gamechanger._ "So starting off we have a very abrupt 'Hi'. We really need to teach him how to start off his text messages, Anna, or they may be this bad forever. Anyways, after a minute I get another text that said 'do we have blod bags in the fridge'. Note that he misspelled the word 'blood'. Didn't we teach the boy proper English three years ago?" I giggled at his backhand remark but urged him to go on. "Then came a frightened 'so is that a yes or no? she's gonna kill me if it's a no'. I responded back notifying him of the blood shortage and he sent a 'but do we have enough?' Of course after explaining the situation thoroughly I was a bit annoyed but he's a teenager and needs things explained multiple times.

"'she's biting my arm' he texted two minutes ago. Now, I know that women can get quite aggressive when hungry or under stress but _biting?_ The last time _you_ did that was in your newborn stage and even then you did it once or twice, and to those times your mates were at fault. Anora seems to have a harder time controlling her hunger when put under pressure of potentially not having enough food."

"Well, I think we all would be. Last time the castle ran out of blood bags a day before were going to get new ones and the whole castle was in a tizzy over it." Marcus laughed and wrapped his arm around me. Little did I know Aro and Caius _had_ been listening and decided that it would be best to hiss at Marcus' move. Sharing is getting better but sometimes they get territorial over me. Not that I'm complaining, I love the attention. "And what do you think should be done about the two of them? I'm sure that Anora would never put a dent into our son, but maybe she will need to go to another island to hunt until we have more blood for the two of them. You know, to make sure that she doesn't become irritable with all of us as well."

Blood is life, and without life you get angry. Its well known that younger vampires can't handle life without blood. Starvation in general is terrible for anyone but thankful none of the world's covens have shortages due to our human contacts. That doesn't mean that some of us in the Volturi don't remember the times when vampires didn't get enough blood and were driven mad because of it. I'm forever thankfully that I wasn't born or turned in those times. I've always, with little delay, gotten the blood that I need.

"I think that Helios will be able to handle the needs of his mate. I can send him to the next island over if she truly requires a good meal for the next few days. The next supply of blood should be here by this time tomorrow. Unfortunately by then the children should be asleep in their beds." I nodded, knowing it to be true. "Anora has gotten better in terms of bloodlust over the years but I fear she is far thirstier than any vampire female I've ever met. While it is true that hybrids are well known now to need more blood due to a faster metabolism she goes beyond those bounds into newborn territory often. I wish I had an answer as to _why_?"

Now that I think about it, Marcus is right. Heelie doesn't need as much blood as Anora, and it seems from what Jacob says about Renesmee that she needs blood but not in the same quantities as either Anora or my son. Odd are the changes from vampire hybrid to vampire hybrid.

"Ah, brother, there is no use in dwelling on such things," Aro chimes in as he pats Marcus on the shoulder. "Although she may thirst more than us, she will always be our daughter-in-soul and that is what matters most. Such differences matter not in the face of all the other things that make us different from one another as a species. It's best to stay united rather than divided."

"And why are we having political speeches in the _middle of the night,_ on a _rock_ in Greece?" Caius snarks. "Please leave them for covens who wish to hear them and for lectures for our child."

"Now, now, Caius, no need to be so aggressive." I tried to quell him. He sent me a pouty face and swooped me up away from Marcus, which caused my other mate to hiss at the loss of contact. "There's many things we all do that annoy everyone but there's no need to point it out in the middle of such a beautiful night. I think it would be better to go have some fun and wait for things to happen with Maeve or just enjoy our vacation. Isn't it your job to get work off our family's mind and show me around the country like you always wanted to?"

He paused for a second to kiss me on the head. "I'll be aggressive in everything I do," he whispered against my ear, "because you love it."

If I could've I would have blushed a deep scarlet. All of my mates laughed at my flustered expression. Caius won this one. "Fine, you win, I just _love_ when you get aggressive with me and everyone around you _all the time._ No need to stop, darling."

"That's the spirit!" I groaned and shook my head at his charismatic tone. "Come on, there's so much to do in so little time. We only have a few more weeks and then the coven will need us again. And we still have so much to _show you_ and give to you during this trip that we wouldn't delay for _the world._ "

No, no he wouldn't.


End file.
